Imagine being at a concert with friends enjoying music from one's favorite country singer, and in a matter of seconds life is changed forever. There are people running and screaming trying to find shelter from the rounds of bullets coming towards everyone and there is nothing anyone can do but hide. This is what the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting of 2018 were feeling. Situations like this can happen in any place, at any moment, to anyone. Therefore, society needs to be more aware of people with mental health concerns and provide assistance for everyone to talk about their problems before taking violent actions to prevent mass shootings in the United States. Media has a strong connection to mass shootings primarily because they attract …show more content…
Jaclyn Schildkraut, an assistant professor in the department of public justice at the State University of New York wrote an article titled “ The Media Should Stop Making School Shooters Famous”, In this article she talks about how the media influences people to copy the crimes the shooters do, this was seen after the first big shooting in Columbine High School (1999). “The extensive coverage of the two perpetrators made them not only famous but even, in some quarters, folk heros of a sort, particularly among deeply alienated students” (Schildkraut, 2018, para. 4). Jennifer Johnston, a professor of psychology at Western New Mexico University says there is a, “direct correlation between our national obsession with mass shooters and the rise in mass killings.” (Herwees, 2018, para. 2). Society’s need to know all about the criminals who perform mass shootings has influenced more shootings because they all want to be know; they have a “desire for fame”. The Parkland, Florida shooting of 2018 was caused by a shooter who posted all over social media that …show more content…
Numerous studies have been done, showing no direct correlation between video games and actual violence. “The US Secret Service conducted a review in 2004 aimed at identifying causes of school shootings, and it found just 12 percent of studied attackers -- that's 5 out of 41 -- expressed an interest in violent video games”(Conditt, 2018, para 6). It was found that video games actually decrease violence in the real world. There was an economic study conducted in 2016 that found, ¨a reduction in crime in the weeks after major video game releases¨ (Conditt, 2018, para 7). This is because the video games give people an outlet to release violent thoughts and frustrations in a safer, virtual environment. In fact, video games actually decrease violence on the
An Iowa State University News Service article featuring three studies done by Iowa State University psychology professors Craig Anderson and Douglas Gentile makes note of this and in their research, the professors looked into whether violent video game exposure led to more violent behavior in children and adolescents or not (“ISU Psychologists” 449). In their three studies, they noted that kid’s games in general have a behavioral effect, that students who played violent video games were more violent or in favor of violence, and that violent video games may lead to poor performance in school as well as a higher rate of social rejection (“ISU Psychologists” 450). Regarding this information, a major increase in aggression in individuals would definitely run the risk of being detrimental in many cases, especially in regard to children. Since children are still in a developmental stage, violent video game could potentially have more of an overall impact. However, in some cases, it can be argued that perhaps video game-related aggression can be a good thing because it’s only a minor amount of aggression in most people, and this minor amount of aggression can be a good thing as it can provide a competitive boost. Even violent video games may have some sort of benefit to the
A major concern in the United States is why mass shootings occur and what needs to be done to stop them from happening. Mass shootings have gained a significant amount of attention in 2015. Within the year, a total of 372 mass shootings have occurred in the United States killing 475 people and wounding 1,870. Mass shootings have become a popular trend within the media and have given the impression that it is the new normal. Mass shootings are a dysfunction to society, due to the fact that they create horror and tragedy within the country. Schools, shopping malls, and even movie theatres have all endured the horrific violence. Mass shootings are nothing new, however, they seem to be occurring more often and are becoming more and more violent. The three leading factors to mass shootings are problematic masculinity, mental illness, and gun control.
In their article, Carolyn Reinach Wolf and Jamie A. Rosen propose that, “Individuals suffering from a mental illness need increased access to and funding for AOT, outpatient treatment programs, residential treatment programs, psychiatric case management, and appropriate psychiatric housing, among others” (870). Anyone with mental illness should have access to the health care they need, whether they’re an upper class citizen, in the criminal justice system, or even homeless. Having access to proper mental health care can drastically change a person’s mood and outlook on life; it allows them a way to coup with mental illness. Proper mental health care provides surveillance, and the red flag behaviors can be identified and treated before people lash out. Also, to prevent shootings, school systems and workplaces should have a system in place to connect information that indicates a serious issue. Along with this, these facilities should have stronger connections with mental health facilities and law enforcement to keep everyone safe. Communication is key in any society, and if we can communicate with each other, we are more likely to
“Since the start of the year, there have been 105+ mass shootings in the United States” (Arnold). The number of mass shootings this year alone has only grown and has left people wondering what there is to do. A common viewpoint across the country is to have stricter gun control around put into place. Stricter gun control brings the value of safety to mind. If guns that are used to carry out the mass shootings are taken away, then overall people will feel safer due to the assault weaponry being taken away from psychopath’s access to them. Take the Orlando night club shooting in 2016, which was the deadliest shooting in United States history at the time, for example: during the month that the shooting took place, requests for background checks by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reached a monthly high; However private gun sales and sales made at gun shows do not require background checks, the number of background checks could underestimate the number of guns sold (Stroebe). If every gun sale that was made had a proper background check then the number of guns sold would see a decrease. James Hodgkinson was a 66-year-old with a history of alleged violence against women, he opened fire in Washington at Republican lawmakers; his only reason for opening fire was because he voted for Bernie Sanders and disliked Donald Trump (Daniel Dale Toronto). Decreasing the number of guns sold to people not mentally and/or physically capable of handling them would make the general population safer incase the incapable person had an outbreak at used the gun to harm someone and/or themselves. It would eliminate the people like Hodkinson who are using guns purely for hate crimes, and who have a history of violence.
Media today plays a big part in the mass shootings believe it or not. “Media contagion” is largely responsible for the increase in these often deadly outbursts”(Media Contagion). By showing the number
The First Amendment of the Constitution says that the Congress cannot make a law that forces people to follow one religion or prohibit free speech. It also says that people have the right to hold peaceful assemblies to make a change. This allows people to have opinions and express them freely as long as they are peaceful.
This idea needs to become widely accepted by everyone in order for it to be successful, because if only some places accept it, then all the other places declined it will still be in danger of mass shootings. What we are trying to do is legal, therefore, we don’t have to pass any bills or laws, but the idea of bringing it to Congress is a great idea. We want to inform the general populace about mass shootings and how there in theory is a way to help decrease the casualties per killings and possible prevent the use of guns in shootings. There will always be mass killings, but we want to prevent the use of guns since it doesn’t affect the victim's, but also the law abiding citizens. Our goal is to spread awareness and to do that we will need to travel around and get people educated about firearms. We know there will be people who are against us, but if we even get some people on our side to be able to help us implement this, we would greatly appreciate it. We want teachers to have handguns, and nothing really over a 9mm. 9mm would be a modest ammo size while still remaining fairly inexpensive. We will not advocate for the use of hollow point or specialty rounds, as that doesn’t seem to fit for teacher use. Teachers will have to buy their own firearms if they do so please, and this will allow them to have full ownership over their firearms so they can use it to defend their homes as well.
There is scientific evidence, such as restricting high risk individuals, such as felons and spouse abusers; from access to firearms, will reduce rates of violent crime. In case after case of mass shootings, we learn later that family members, friends, and even mental health professionals were concerned that someone needed help. Predicting violence is difficult, but identifying that someone needs assistance is not so difficult. This is where we need to readjust our focus and concentrate on helping people in distress. This approach requires not only a change in police policy but community mental health services that are oriented around
History relating to the issue of gun violence and mass shooting can be dated back for decades. One of the most common misconceptions is that the cause of these shootings is not the availability of but that mental illnesses of those that obtain the guns are. However, there is little to no evidence that truly supports this argument. As stated in the article, Mass Shootings and Mental Illness written by James L. Knoll IV and D. Annas, “The overall contribution of people with serious mental illness to violent crimes is only about 3%. When these crimes are examined in detail, an even smaller percentage of them are found to involve firearms. (p.81/90)” This misconception among many can be attributed, as outlined in the article, to today’s media coverage.
The shooting could be prevented if the family and community discover the mental illness in advance. Doctors have discovered from mass shootings that people show warning signs which lead criminals to kill others or
On June 10, 2014, since the Newtown Connecticut elementary school mass shooting, President Barack Obama stated this: “My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage. We're the only developed country on Earth where this happens. ... And it happens once a week. And it's a one-day story. ... The country has to do some soul-searching on this." Every day there seems to be another story in the news regarding a shooting, ranging from small to large scale. Has something within ourselves changed that’s caused the increased violence? Maybe it’s to get their 10 seconds of fame? I fear that the situation is only going to get worse as time goes on. There has been an increase in mass shootings over the last decade. In order to prevent the mass shootings and gun violence in general, we need to put stricter policies in place for both background checks and weapons allowed. Other countries around the world, with stricter gun laws, do not have the mass shootings like the United States does.
It may seem odd that one would think that a video game could possibly have a negative effect on children. Especially when you discover all of the logical fallacies in their argument. Although some people have some decent points, most studies done on this subject have no direct correlation with the violence in children that happen to play violent video games. A study done in 2008, deemed with the title “Grand Theft Childhood” reported that 60% of middle school boys who played at least one M-rated game had previously hit or beat up another
The violence in video games teaches young minds a twisted perception of reality, and romanticize violence. A report from the APA American Psychological Association has concluded that playing violent video games for an extended amount of time can lead to an increase in violence (Kelly, 2015). This coincides with the studies of german researcher who claim that violent video games can actually desensitize people (Kelly, 2015) .
Most of us have certainly pondered on the thought if video games truly create violent citizens, I personally believe that video games do not what so ever. One must distinguish this topic accurately and consider learning to differentiate and not have a biased or radical opinion. There have been many attempts from a number of different people who have tried to give a bad name to video games due to the simulations and realness and say that video games will create a negative environment for anyone who plays them, especially in children. Enthusiasts of video games have spent decades asserting that there is no underlying link between playing violent titles and engaging in the violent real-world behavior. Brand-new data confirms their contentions.
Since the birth of shooting games such as, but not limited to, DOOM, Call of Duty, and Modern Warfare, when pertaining to these games, just listed have been around for many years, and likely aren't going anywhere, and very few, if any, cases involving violent children have been linked to these games. Do violent video games make people violent in real life? Well, to be quite honest, I do NOT think that violent games make people actually violent because people make their own choices, video game have been proven to be a good stress reliever, and they actually have been shown to improve the functions of the right hemisphere of the brain.