I definitely did read a study awhile back that claimed that alot of these kids are the kids who would have been suicide risks back when I was growing up, but that the fame afforded to mass shooters has drawn some of them to do this instead. The study definitely spoke to me because this was a theory I kind of had on my own, and the author of the study went back and studied just about every major spree shooting of the last 30 years as part of the study.
Now, what do we DO with that information. I am 1000% opposed to passing a law abridging our freedom of speech to correct that is a TEENY TINY FRACTION of total gun violence which itself is a small sliver of total violent crime. It’s the same reason I’m opposed to major gun control in the wake of these incidents. You don’t punish an innocent majority for the actions of a tiny minority.
But I do think the government could use it’s bully pulpit effect and approach the media outlets and say “Hey, we think these kids are doing this, at least in part, for notoriety. Report on the incident, tell people the basics of what happened, but let’s try, for about a decade or so, to not give the shooter’s name or any identifying details on things like TV reports. It won’t be hidden, so researchers and others can still get it, but someone would have to go through the effort of seeking it out…which most people won’t. Let’s also not sensationalize the events.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, if you get a bunch of the big media editorial groups together at once, that many of them probably WOULD be willing to do this, as long as none of the others among the major players broke the pact. Sure, there would always be a small player breaking the deal, but the kids ten years from now won’t know that.
Then, after you do this for awhile…see if it seems like fewer of these happen in a decade or two. If the media companies won’t bite…c’est la vie. Censorship is the greater of the two evils, so I’m not willing to go there. But a voluntary ‘standards and practices’ kind of approach MIGHT work.