RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Between a shooting at a Waynesboro elementary school and dangerous social media posts seen in both Hanover and Lunenburg Counties, students are facing a hard transition back to the classroom. We’re almost through the first two weeks of school, but there’s been no shorta ge of safety concerns.  “The number of school shootings that have increased over the years, it’s almost like we expect it to happen once school season starts," Dr. Kathryn Jones, an associate professor and child and adolescent psychiatrist, said. "We expect for these things to start to build up.”  According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, school shootings in the U.S. reached a peak in 2023 with 352. This is up drastically from the 34 school shootings just 10 years earlier in 2013.   According to Pew Research, more than half of teens said they’re worried about school shootings. A quarter of those said they’re very worried.  Even if something doesn’t happen at a student's school, worries about what happened — like the shooting in Waynesboro — can trickle into the minds of students at other schools.  A 19-year-old suspect, now identified as Anthony I. Ignatiadis-Isabelle, forced entry into Westwood Hills Elementary School around 9:12 a.m. on Wednesday. Authorities found him dead in the library from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A staff member had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and has since been treated and released. (WHSV) And in Lunenburg County, all public schools were closed on Monday after law enforcement began investigating a concerning social media post. A person was taken into custody, but it's unclear whether they were charged. The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating a threat made on social media against Mechanicsville High School.  Jones said it’s okay to acknowledge that a situation is scary for a student, but also important to remind them that there are systems in place and trusted adults to keep them safe.  “There are kind, good people in the world whose goals are just to help keep us safe and even should something — heaven forbid — happen, that there will be people on the other side of it to help us manage," she said.   All public schools in Virginia are legally required to practice active-shooter drills. It’s a safe environment to go over a plan in case of an emergency, but it could raise questions for students. “I think it’s always good to open lines of communication with, ‘This thing I've noticed it’s going on the news. Have you and your friends been talking about it? Are you thinking about it? What do you think about it?’ And kind of let the child lead the discussion," Jones suggested for parents.   ...read more read less