What Does It Mean When You Dream About a School Shooting?

Last Updated on January 17, 2021 by Sloane Marie

The meaning of a dream about a school shooting depends entirely on what happens in your dream. It also depends on what is going on in your real life. If you were at a school that has recently had a shooting or been locked down, the dream may merely represent your anxiety about the event. With school shootings so frequently in the news, this type of dream has become even more common in recent years.

Provide yourself with additional insights into the meaning of your dreams by learning how to interpret any dreams you may have about death or dying.

What Does It Mean When You Dream About a School Shooting?

Luckily, a dream about a school shooting does not mean that a school shooting will actually happen. It most likely represents your anxiety about a potential shooting. If you dream about being the shooter, it does not mean that you are a psychopath or that you will do a school shooting. You may want to go talk to a mental health professional if you do entertain these types of thoughts in your waking life.

These types of dreams tend to happen when you are exposed to shooting in the news. Our subconscious minds create dreams from everything that we see or do during the day. If you have seen school shootings on the news, been a part of one or have a fear of them happening, then it is entirely possible that these thoughts are causing your dreams to happen. Dreaming about a school shooting does not mean that one will happen. It only represents your fears and anxieties about a potential shooting.

School Shooting Dreams Where You Are the Victim

In many dreams about a school shooter, you are the victim in the dream. You are sitting at school when suddenly the entire school goes on lock down because of an active shooter threat. While it is terrifying to be hurt or killed in your dream, it only shows your type of fear.

If you dream that you are the shooter, then it may represent violent emotions in your psyche. You may feel like you want to take control of your life and “get back” at other people. If these dreams are backed by real-life feelings, then it is important that you get help for them.

Sometimes, you are no longer in school when you have a dream about a school shooting. In this case, you may have family members or friends who are still in school. You may naturally be afraid that something could happen that would hurt your loved ones, so you had this type of dream. A dream about a school shooting does not mean that your child or friend will be hurt. It only shows that you are afraid of what could happen in the future.

If you have graduated and are no longer going to school, the dream may show the unsettled, unresolved emotions that you have about your youth. You may have felt like there were negative or hostile people around you in school, so you dreamed that a shooting happened. If a specific individual was targeted in the dream, it may represent the anger or fear you feel around this person in real life. You may subconsciously wish that they could be punished for how they treated you when you were in school, so you had this type of dream.

The General Meaning Behind Shooting Dreams

If you dream that you have shot someone with a gun, it shows a sense of aggression and anger in your psyche. Even if you did not realize it before, you may harbor a hidden anger or distrust of that person. If the person who is shot is a stranger, it may mean that you are rejecting a part of yourself or your personality that you just do not understand.

When you dream that someone is actually shooting at you, it shows that there may be some kind of confrontation in your real life. You may feel like someone is trying to hurt you, and there may be a situation in your waking life where you feel as if you are the victim. If someone shoots you in the back in your dream, it shows that there are people around you that you do not really trust. You may have put too much faith in these people before, so they were able to harm your well-being and happiness.

Dreaming that you were shot may also represent a self-punishment. You may feel ashamed of how you acted in a specific instance, so you feel as if you should be punished. If you return as someone else, it shows that you want to turn over a new leaf and start fresh. If you are shot and not killed, it indicates that you have the ability to work through your problems to reach a better solution in your real life. Sometimes, being shot in a dream also shows that you want to get rid of the past so that you can become a completely new, better person.

A dream about a school shooting can be extremely traumatic to experience, but it is most likely not going to happen in reality. Since school shootings have become more common, this dream has become more frequent as well. Schools train for active shooter threats, and you see school shootings on the news constantly. With so much information and news about school shootings, it only makes sense that you might have a dream about a school shooting as well. Luckily, this dream does not foretell the future. It only represents your inner emotions, turmoil, and anxiety.