The father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting that left four people dead, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting that left four people dead, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
This is silly. Do you really think censoring shooter's names is going to do jack shit? Name the parkland shooter, or the Walmart shooter in Texas. I bet you can't. I know the average American can't.
This is an attractive idea because it gives us agency to punish these people somehow. We see them get wall-to-wall media coverage and incorrectly assume that's the motivation because it's hard to imagine shooting kids for any reason and the media coverage is the most available effect to us.
If that's not convincing, then just know that Tucker Carlson agrees with you.
Name the parkland shooter, or the Walmart shooter in Texas. I bet you can’t. I know the average American can’t.
The reason we can't name them is that THERE'S TOO FUCKING MANY OF THEM TO REMEMBER. I can't even remember the incidents you're talking about, let alone who did them.
I couldn’t tell you the Trump shooters name without googling and that was only a few months ago. But I could Google it. These people are famous yes but I don’t think that’s the motivation. Why the fuck would I care if I’m famous, I’m still dead.
The only solution is make it harder to get the guns in the first place and easier and less stigmatized to get the mental health care they need.
They aren’t thinking about being famous. If you’ve ever had suicidal thoughts like I have (long time ago, I’m fine) then you’ll know that you just want to impact the people that you feel did this to you. It’s a twisted way of thinking but that’s how it works.
So they aren’t concerned with being famous, they’re concerned about having a large impact and making people feel the suffering they feel. It’s not a coincidence that it’s young men that do this. It’s not a stretch going from “You failed as a parent, blame yourself for my death” to “You failed as a parent and caused me so much pain that other people will feel it and you should blame yourselves”.
But most people aren’t like that. They just want the pain to end and for the world to be sorry that they’re gone. They don’t care if they’ll be dead.
If either of those are familiar to you currently, please look at therapy or call a local hotline.
With the amount of them these days does it make a difference? I get the idea for sure, and when there were less of them it was easier and made some sense, but these days you may as well be plugging the hoover dam with bubble gum. Even if all the mainstream outlets didn't say the name, someone will.
I do hope for better, but I don't think not printing a name is going to help.
There's a famous case in Australia, the Port Arthur massacre, where the perp Bryant was heavily motivated by fame.
The police & prison wardens & media took special measures to ensure he didn't have his photo taken, because he would drive sadistic pleasure from knowing people would see him.