Neighborhood Ministries

While the media continues to call for increased gun control, they ignore their own responsibility. After the shooting at Columbine High School hit the news, there were a number of similar school shootings that also drew extensive news coverage. In fact, the coverage probably encouraged the others by showing them that they could become famous by killing people. To someone who feels that no one will listen to him, it sounds like a good way to get people to remember them. However coverage of a particularly tragic school shooting ended abruptly. The media first broke the news that there had been a shooting and then abruptly cut off news coverage, without giving any details, when they apparently realized the repercussions from such coverage. Unlike the other events, only one person died but the shooter’s age made it particularly scary. I took note of it because the shooting took place at an elementary school on the school campus where I had gone to Jr. High school years before. I received the details from friends who still live there. A six-year old boy walked into his first grade class, pulled out a gun, and shot and killed a first grade girl, in front of his whole class. He had picked up the loaded gun that was laying around at home before he left for school. Most likely, he was influenced by the coverage of the school shootings which told him that the way to solve your problems is with a gun. We need to stop glorifying these people in public. When the publicity stops, they will need to seek other ways to get attention. Hopefully, ones that are less destructive.