School Shootings Essay

Even though school shootings are rampant worldwide, the United States has been a breeding ground for the attackers since the mid 20th century (Muschert, 2007). It is no coincidence that these school shootings cases increas in the period when the world is recording extraordinary technological innovations and right to free speech. For instance, the school shootings incidents have boomed since social media outlets become popular in the world (Kimmel & Mahler 2003). Moreover, the majority of the modern-day constitutions do not censor the mass media outlets on the type of incidence to cover and the ways to report critical events such as mass shootings (Muschert, 2007). For these reasons, researchers believe that there is an association between media and school shootings (Lawrence & Birkland, 2004). For instance, the killer of the Ohio School Shooting had posted “Die to You All” on his Facebook page before murdering three learners (Lindberg, Sailas, & Kaltiala-Heino, 2012).

This is a typical instance where social media predict the linkage between online threats and world exploitation or violence. Also, the authors indicate that the school shootings show the connection between cyber-bullying or online threats and real-world brutality especially when post-event scrutinizes reveals the upsetting communication models of the perpetrators (Lindberg, Oksanen, Sailas, & Kaltiala-Heino, 2012). Additionally, the adolescents who have expressed school massacre threats on social media outlets issue the threats with clear intentions and are more focused to execute their plans as compared to the adolescents who make in-person threat (Patton, Hong, Ranney, Patel, Kelley, Eschmann, & Washington, 2014). Furthermore, more than half of the students who had articulated their bloodshed coercion online had prepared to accomplish their threats (Patton, Hong, Ranney, Patel, Kelley, Eschmann, & Washington, 2014).

For these reasons, mass media has been described as a contributor for the school shootings problem as demonstrated by Lawrence and Birkland in their 2004 study. The researchers contend that mass media trigger shooting incidents because the attention garnered by the shooters encourages adolescents with similar motives and who want to garner attention irrespective of the consequences (Lawrence & Birkland, 2004). Therefore, mass media is a crucial aspect in the recent boom on the school shootings. Additionally, psychologists argue that teens who experience or see violence at the tender ages are very susceptible to intense, brutal fantasies (Kimmel & Mahler 2003). As an outcome, the kids develop the perception that violence is the sole way to gain recognition and respect (Kimmel & Mahler 2003.   References Kimmel, M. S.