So unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard about the Sandy Hook school massacre. I was no where near a television or radio when it happened, so I didn't hear about it until mid-late afternoon that day. Of course, once I found out, I couldn't get away from it. Even now, I struggle with a multitude of feelings. First, I shook my head in disappointment, thinking "What the hell is wrong with people...?" Later, I was passing by the television in the living room where my wife was just finding out about it, watching in shock. The anchor was pontificating about what would cause someone to do such a thing. I thought, "Well of course he took to mass murder! He was unhappy, so everyone must share in his misery. That's how it is! No one has the guts to just deal with their own shit, they have to drag innocent people into it..." Obviously, I was getting angry and cynical. I made sure to NOT watch any coverage of the event, no longer having the stomach for it. The next morning, I went online, and saw a headline on one of my news sights, saying that almost all the children had been shot multiple times, leaving some of them almost unrecognizable. Right then, for the first time in my life, I knew what a truly broken heart felt like. Killing them wasn't enough, he had to mutilate them with bullets - as if he was getting off on it. I almost cried as I read the article: Victoria Soto, the teacher who was killed shielding the children from the bullets with her body as she funneled them into a closet. And that's how they found her - dead on top of the children she was protecting; Dawn Hochsprung, the principal who went after the gunman, and gave her life in the attempt to overtake him; Twenty children, who knew nothing about life except enjoying it - the ultimate perk of youth.
Then I was flipping through channels and passed by the group of news networks. I stopped on FOX News for a moment, to see Mike Huckabee offering commentary, in the vein that the shooting happened because we've taken God out of the schools. And I just wanted to throw something through the TV. Whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not, YES - believing in something bigger than yourself, that instills a respect for the world you live in, would make the world a better place. But to blame the removal of school prayer and the refusal to teach religion as science as reasons for... what, God's punishment, in the form of a massacre? That's wholly irresponsible, and it underlines a major contributor to these types of coverage: the sensationalism of tragedy.
These networks are beyond the pale. Something horrible happens, and within an hour, they have gripping headlines, a tragedy moniker, a theme song, and the anchors look as if they're masturbating while covering it, just enraptured at the sound of their own voice. They have psychologists lined up for "official" opinions, reporters on the scene eagerly asking every person they can get there greedy little paws on how they are feeling right now, as if they are expecting different answers five people in. They have photographers snapping photos of everyone, just itching for that one shot that wins them a Pulitzer - cause if you can't capitalize on a tragedy, why are you in the job, yes? And if there's one thing people in that situation want more than anything, it's having the entire planet seeing a gut-wrenching photo of them in the most vulnerable and heart-broken state they've ever been in their entire life on the cover of TIME, Life, or NewsWeek for eternity. There is truly nothing more heartless in this country than the media, and they are proud of it, wearing the label like a badge of honor.
The argument has been made that the media is one of the ones to blame for tragedies like this, because they encourage the downtrodden and depressed to one-up the guy who did it two weeks ago - you too can be famous! There's some merit to that, although it's a bit broad for my taste. And for the ever-popular claim that a gunman had a mental illness, this argument assumes a great deal of clarity being capable of the mentally ill.
I think there's more merit to the argument that gaming and social media do a great deal more to contribute to someone's thinking than the media. Games, especially the exceptionally violent and graphic ones, desensitize kids to violence and bloody, gruesome images. Do they make people violent? No, not if they are of sound mind. But if they are mentally unbalanced? Yes, I can see a contribution to the state of mind occurring. And people spend so much time on social media now, they barely interact with other actual people. Gamers are more likely to feel connected to their avatar than real people these days. And if you're already an introvert, or "socially awkward," as they like to call it, you already lack the connection to people that would have you feeling something for them, so imagine how detached social media and gaming can increase that widening gap between them and reality. Many people call this a cop-out argument, but it's actually much stronger than you think - especially if we're so ready and willing to blame the media for the same thing.
Gun control. Let's face it, we need it. It won't stop events like this, where the guns were legally owned by his mother. But we have to get tested and licensed for a variety of things - in some cases, like driver's licenses, you have to do it every so many years - something as dangerous as guns should definitely be on the list. The goal of regulation is to make it more difficult for criminals to have access to black market weapons, but it should also be to make sure that weapon ownership is legal and safe. Everyone wanting to purchase a gun, should have to disclose the number of children and mentally challenged in their home, so they can be advised of the strongest measures to take in securing the weapon and ammunition in the home. In cases like this (although, sadly, the mother was a victim here), the owner should not be allowed to own a firearm anymore if a child, or mentally unbalanced person, gains access to it and hurts themselves or someone else - clearly responsibility is not being exercised. And doing nothing, or worse, brushing it off because it's too political of an issue, is simply not acceptable anymore.
There are many factors that contributed to this tragedy, and we will hear about some of them in the weeks to come. But we, as a nation, need to take mental health and gun/ammunition regulation more seriously. And the media seriously needs to stop glorifying every tragedy that occurs. A mass murder isn't your giddy answer to Sweeps week.
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