Even after a year since the May tragedies, the main impression is that we remained psychologically ‘trapped’ in that event. It's as if we come back to it again and again, almost every day. As if nothing is the same anymore. For parents, families, wounded, witnesses, students who lost their friends - for them, everything changed radically. But how did it affect all of us, the wider community? Can we talk about collective trauma, because we look at everything that has happened to us since then in relation to that experience, every new tragedy, new social crisis, brings us back to the question - has something changed, what have we learned from it? I'm afraid the answer to those questions is not positive.

The immediate consequences of tragedies spread like concentric circles, from the epicenter to society as a whole and became a collective traumatic experience, followed, after the initial shock and disbelief, by feelings of sadness, anxiety, loss of security, meaning, but also by deep and sincere sympathy with the immediate victims. Serbia started a movement against violence as a sign of not agreeing to helplessness in the face of evil. It was important to do everything to eliminate or at least mitigate the consequences of the tragedy, to eliminate the risks of repeating similar events, as well as to understand what happened to us and why it happened. These are the foundations on which the attitude to trauma is built. The way to overcome trauma, especially one that includes loss, complex grief, leads through a sense of support, solidarity, sincere empathy, building an understanding that gives meaning to the tragedy, and some meaning to the continuation of life. This includes finding a way to remember the victims with dignity, respect and love, so that we can continue our lives, but as better people, as a better school, as a better society. Only when we start to build a different and better future based on the acceptance and understanding of the past, we can slowly restore meaning to life, and trust and solidarity among people.

So, what did we do to mitigate the consequences of the tragedy, and what did we do to eliminate the risks of repeating similar events, and do we really understand what happened to us and why? I believe that much has been done, but also that much has been missed. If we do not reflect self-critically on mistakes and omissions, we won’t learn a lot.

When it comes to providing immediate support, the Serbian Psychological Society organized and provided the first psychological support to students, parents and teachers at the school immediately after the tragic events during the month of May with the help of many volunteers, until the Formation Of The Working Group For Mental Health and Youth Safety Support of the Government of Serbia, which initiated the Project of Crisis Psychosocial Support for the Community under the leadership of the Institute for Mental Health. Psychologists and psychiatrists from various institutions and the Serbian Psychological Society provided psychosocial support in schools, as well as outside schools in the local community premises in Belgrade (DADOV), Maldenovac and Smederevo, and with the beginning of the new school year, space in the Children's Cultural Center was used. The Center for Mental Health of Children and Young People - CEZAM (Resavska 22) has now been established, which will start operating on April 24.

However, the needs of those who were most directly affected by the tragedy, the parents of the murdered children and the wounded, were not adequately addressed. They were left to wander for several hours from school to hospital in search of information immediately after the tragedy, which contributed to their additional traumatization. They were also expected to apply themselves for the psychological support that was offered to everyone, in the same way that parents whose children continued their education were involved. At their request, a special team for the prevention of post-traumatic stress and complicated grief was formed with great delay. This type of specialized psychological support is now provided to the families of murdered children, the wounded who have been further traumatized by medical interventions, long-term hospitalizations and permanent disabilities in Malo Orašje, Dubona and Belgrade.

When it comes to prevention, the Ministry of Education implemented the training program Improving the Competencies of Employees in the Education System in the Field of Mental Health Protection, and the Children Development Support Guide to Prevent Violence in Schools was prepared. The Institute of Mental Health has prepared three manuals related to mental health, providing psychological support and psychological recovery after trauma. Protocol on how to deal with crisis situations was prepared and a multidisciplinary mobile team of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, representatives of social protection and the Ministry of Interior was formed. However, for the implementation of all these important recommendations in schools, we need motivation, mutual trust and mutual support of school employees. The prerequisites for this are that education regains its importance in society, that the position of employees in education is improved, that the school becomes a community that builds a sense of belonging among students and employees, including the right to directly participate in the selection of the director based on her/his professional and human quality.

What made it difficult to provide support to those affected was a series of other failures. The media coverage was sensationalist, focused on the perpetrators, which created the risk of copying the violent behavior, and the details of the investigation were disclosed to the public. The continuation and end of the school year, as well as the beginning of the next school year, were implemented without a well-thought-out plan and participation of relevant active participants and without a clear operationalization of the proposal, which created additional confusion and dissatisfaction among teachers, students and parents. Polarization was caused between the parents of the murdered children and the other parents of the children who continued their education, no direct dialogue between the parties was established, nor was mediation proposed to overcome the conflicting proposals for solutions regarding the work of the school and the memorial center. Instead of seeking a solution through dialogue, the problem was avoided and postponed. Only recently has the initiative of the parents, who themselves organized a multidisciplinary team, contributed to the formation of the Working Group that should facilitate the implementation of the Memorial Center. The distribution of psychosocial support, as well as media attention, was more focused on Belgrade compared to Dubona and Malo Orašje, and the presence of other existential, social, health, and other problems exceeded the scope of mental health support and made psychological recovery difficult. The draft proposal for amendments to the Law on Protection of Persons with Mental Disabilities, which stipulates that the decision on compulsory detention of a child is made without restrictions regarding the duration of detention, was passed hastily, without expert consultation, which was the source of new misunderstandings and parental concerns.

There is much more that can still be done. Some of the recommendations that we will continue to advocate for the purpose of prevention, as well as intervention in crisis situations, refer to the formation of a regional Center for victims of trauma and intervention in crisis, which would have the role of a central body for informing and coordinating the provision of support and referral to other types of assistance of all affected by tragedy; Formation of regional Community Centers for Mental Health and Family Counseling Centers throughout Serbia; Establishment of day care centers for children and the young with behavioral problems in order to support the resocialization of the young and the development of prosocial behavior; Establishment of a special closed interdepartmental institution for the education and rehabilitation of juvenile perpetrators of serious crimes who pose a security risk.

Research data in the USA, where mass murders in schools are much more common than in other parts of the world, indicate that the change that would significantly reduce the possibility of a similar tragedy happening again is not hidden in the exclusive focus on the perpetrator, the family and the school, but also in social factors that shape their environment, which includes proclaimed values, social norms, role models based on which young people construct their behavior and identity, etc... Media promotion of models of power and aggressive behavior as desirable and institutional failure to respond to violence of all kinds certainly does not contribute to this. Therefore, the answer to the initial question: has anything changed - yes, a lot has been improved, but the wider social context in which all this happened to us has not changed. We will summarize the results through the anniversaries coming up in the future.