Quote: "When are the press going to learn that they only encourage things like this?"
That's a mixed bag. On the one hand, if someone has set out to murder people, it's probably not because they woke up one day and just thought "Hey! This is a good idea. I'm going to do this." It's more likely a "gradual evolution" that happens throughout their lives. On the other hand, you have the "wannabe killers" who I imagine to be teens living with their parents. If there's a family structure and some general togetherness, they might watch TV together, sometimes. If the massacre is displayed and the parents (or guardians) show dislike for it, the teen
might, possibly, potentially, maybe decide against it. If all of the teen's peers show dislike for it, and the teen isn't an outcast, then the teen is more likely to not want to do it. If the teen's an outcast anyway, and the thought has crossed the mind already, I doubt the news will have a noticeable impact, if any.
I don't believe the media influence as that strong based on personal experience. (Okay, so a sample set of one potentially biased individual does not science make... But still!) From as early as I can remember (4 years old or so) I
always watched horror movies. Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Critters (which was more funny than scary, but still), "April Fools" (Don't remember if that's the actual name; ending was great), "Junior" (again, don't remember name), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And as time went on, I watched more and more horror movies. (I've yet to see Psycho... I should watch it. I think it's on Netflix.) Anyway, I'm only screwed up in my
dark comedy (no pun intended, considering this company's main product). I have imperfections obviously, but I'm not going around slaughtering people. I've always been aware of things like the Columbine High School Massacre as well. I never thought "Oh hey, this is something I should be doing! My life will be
so much better!"
TL:
[/i]DR; I doubt very much that the media has that big on an influence over whether someone is killed or not. At least not over posts or news reports on this subject. And if you believe so, you posting is only giving this thread more popularity, which is thereby giving the story more popularity. Ergo, you're giving the story more popularity, thus you become the media. People are going to talk about this, it's human nature.
Quote: "I can't do anything about it and I don't know the people involved so there's no reason for me to know"
You're wrong. Knowing that this happens, you can be more active in your community to try and prevent the same thing from happening there. You can volunteer to help troubled teens so they don't turn into psychopaths, or get them the help they need if they are. You can educate people about the matter and [i]why it's wrong if necessary. (e.g., they might be young children.) You know the name of that community. You can start a fund raiser or just donate so that the families can afford a funeral. All you have to do is get in contact with the locals. If you don't have the money to donate yourself, you can still setup a donation service for the families.
WHAT NOT TO DO: Set up a donation service so the families can get their money back to view the full movie.
Cheers,
Aaron
