The Perpetrators
Why do you believe society is so fascinated with learning about the perpetrators of mass shootings?
I believe that the perpetrators of mass shootings are studied so closely and catch so many people’s attention due to the rare and gruesome nature of their crime. Mass shootings are rare events, even though nowadays they seem to be occurring way too frequently, regardless to create one of these tragedies that are not attempted by many. So, what makes the few who have committed this specific crime different from everyone else? This is why everyone is so fascinated with the perpetrators. Everyone is wondering what could have possibly happened that made this individual not only think of attempting to commit a mass shooting but then plan and execute that plan. It is something so unimaginable to us because we know we could never do anything that horrific. But, that is the very reason we want to know as many details about the perpetrators so we can attempt to piece together why they did what they did.
What steps can we as a take, both individually and as a society, to stop mass shooters from copying one another?
The most effective method of preventing mass shooters from copying one another, in my opinion, is to limit the amount of attention the perpetrators receive in our media as much as possible. This sounds like a direct contradiction to my explanation above. But, satisfying our curiosity about the perpetrator's motives and the story is not worth the possibility of encouraging a future mass shooter. Many of the mass shooters admitted that part of the reason, or the entire reason, they had taken the actions they took was because of their desire for attention and legacy. They observe how many news stories a past perpetrator had received.
They see how many articles are written about them, how many studies are published about them, how many tweets and posts are shared talking about them. And even though every mention of them is in a negative light, it is irrelevant. All they see is the attention and how long that attention will last. So, if news outlets were to not mention so many extensive details about these perpetrators as well as spend as little time as possible talking about them, and instead devoting that time to the victims, I believe many future mass shooters would be discouraged. Columbine is a perfect example of this. The copycats of the Columbine shooters would take action on or around the anniversary of Columbine because they knew their actions would be reported extensively. Many mass shooters even try to “outdo” the number of victims from Columbine and commit even more heinous crimes as a way to obtain even more attention. We need to break the relationship, our media perpetuates, of an increase in air time correlating with an increase in casualties.
What do you see as the benefits of a movement like No Notoriety? What about any drawbacks?
I already covered what I believe are the benefits of a movement like No Notoriety above. That being the discouragement of future mass shootings. However, what comes with this concept is the frustration of the public who may feel they are being left in the dark. Everybody wants to know who did this terrible thing. They feel it is unjust to protect the identity of a mass shooter because they deserve all of the hate they are receiving in the media. However, it must be understood by all that to these individuals, all attention is good attention. So, if we were being threatened and insulted on a nationwide level it would feel like a nightmare. But to someone attempting to leave a legacy, good or bad, it is a dream come true.
Great post! I definitely agree that a reason society is so fascinated with the perpetrators of mass shootings is because of the rare nature. Mass shootings are something that don't happen too often and that leaves us with a ton of unknowns about the subject. We want to know what got them to this frame of mind where they need to harm others. The reason we have these questions is to figure out why they decided to do what they did. Another part of your post that I agree with is that shooters get too much attention in the media. Like you said, the shooters stories aren't enough to encourage another mass shooting. But perpetrators see how much time the stories get on air and although these stories are negative, they do not care about that. They just see the fame that comes from these type of events. Lastly, I agree that as the public we do feel like we are left in the dark when we don't know who committed such a tragic act. But that is what is going to keep us safe, the less the public knows about perpetrators the better.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I think you make a great point that while the public is often so interested in knowing why the perpetrator committed the shooting, where they came from, what their motive was, etc., though this is the opposite of what the goals of the No Notoriety movement are. Eliminating the copycat effect would have to start with removing the name and details of the perpetrator's life from the media, and this may leave the public feeling like they are not being told important information. I think a way to get around this would be to continue to educate on why that movement is so important and this could lead to more people knowing the benefits of it.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I feel that the reason society is so fascinated with the perpetrator is because its very rare that someone commits this kind of crime. Another thing is the media, I feel they love to focus on the shooters much more because that might get them more views and noticed by the public. When a mass shooting occurs, everyone wonders who would do such a thing and the media knows that so they like to put their attention on them. I feel we need to stop looking into the shooter as much because that will prevent copycat shootings and possibly save the lives of many innocent people. Overall this was a great post!!
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