I haven't done the research of why mass shootings occur, but I have looked deeply into many mass shooting accounts. Generally, those that commit mass shootings are loners who for one reason or another have been incited to hate, harm, and kill. Many of these mass killers are mentally ill, and many have family members who don't know how to deal with them. Some of these mass killers surprise the people around them with the carnage they cause, but many belong to families who have somehow supported the carnage either by inciting the hate, dismissing warnings, and/or negating the need to get help from experts and agencies to thwart this evil.
As a parent and family member, I know that we never truly know what will come our way. My mom taught me long ago to "never say never" which means to be wary of judging anyone in a tough situation because you don't know what will come your way. I know that is sage advice--advice that I follow.
However, I am wondering about how we can prevent acts of terror--actions when individuals take it upon themselves to terrorize, harm, and kill others?
Rid government, organizations and corporations of hate/death-inciting leaders.
First off when you act in hateful ways and incite hate, harm or murder towards others, you are part of the problem. When the President of the United States acts with his cronies to foster a domestic terrorist event at the nation's Capitol, you have a big problem. People look up to the President of the United States, and when the President fosters hate, harm, and terror, vulnerable and impressionable people are likely to follow his lead. When I looked up the Facebook page of the Buffalo mass murderer, he had Donald Trump's picture at the front of his page. Was that the killer's true Facebook page? That would have to be investigated, but is it likely that Trump's terror inspired this terror--that is certainly possible. We know for fact that Trump's hateful words against immigrants at the border inspired the El Paso mass murder. And look, Trump, so far, has not been held accountable for his likely leadership and definite dereliction of duty related to The Capitol domestic terror assault. That sends a poor message to vulnerable youth and others. We cannot stand for leaders in government, organizations or corporations who foster hate, harm, terror, and murder.
Do not incite hate, harm or murder?
Hate talk and acts do inspire harm and potentially murder. Watch your own words, actions and affiliations to ensure that you are not spreading or inciting the kind of hate, harm and murder in others that will lead to violent acts. Work with those you love to encourage, support and care for one another in ways that are actionable, positive, and life enriching.
Help one another
Spending time in acts that help one another bring out the best in us. When people of any age give time and energy to building better lives with and for others, that brings out the best in them. Make sure that you do this yourself and find ways to engage your children and other loved ones in acts of service. These service acts are great teachers that help us to see and participate in the world with a broader, better lens.
Diversity is strength
Too many in our world do not embrace the strength that diversity brings to life. This narrow-mindedness promotes harmful prejudices and bigotry. We have to recognize that diversity is strength, and to embrace and foster our diverse ways of good living makes us all better people.
No weapons
The obsession by some with weapons that can kill is a dangerous and deadly obsession. Rid your homes, discussions, and affiliations of all that support deadly, dangerous weapons. In Newtown, the killer's mother was obsessed with guns--she shared and supported that obsession with her son. This was irresponsible. Imagine if she and her son spent Saturdays helping out at a homeless shelter instead of going to the gun club--those Newtown children's lives may have been saved.
Learn about and talk about the big issues that plague our society
Childhood should be a happy time, but it is also a time of learning. When families make time to watch and discuss a variety of accurate news shows together, they help their children to make sense of the world around them. To discuss the troubling issues in society and give students ways to react with peace and support, provides children with a positive avenue for good living. Sixty Minutes is an excellent show for families to watch together and discuss.
Spend time with those you love and engage in positive activities
Make sure that you spend time with those you love. In many instances of mass murders, the killers had too much time alone, distanced from positive social contact. They used that time to affiliate with online and realtime hate groups as well as to collect and learn about weapons of mass destruction. Imagine if these loners had pastimes that were positive and life enriching instead. Often when parents have children who fall far from the mean of society, they have to work harder, be creative, and think differently about helping those children find people and places where they can positively interact and take part in society in positive ways. Parents of children like that have to spend more time in the early years creating positive life ways for those children and their overall family life. No matter what our children or loved ones are like, we have to keep the conversation about contribution and living good lives at the forefront. We can't be afraid to challenge our children's actions when we believe they are going astray or hurting themselves or others, and we have to spend good, positive time with our loved ones regularly.
I want our country to work to prevent these acts of mass murder and destruction. How can we do that?
- Promote anti-racism and an accurate, deep knowledge of our country's racist roots as well as how to eradicate that deadly racism.
- Remove all people from office that promote deadly violence, racism, hatred, and harm.
- Vote for good leaders who work to prevent acts of mass killings and other destruction.
- Work against and to prevent harmful addictions.
- Put sensible, safe gun regulations and laws in place--much like the laws that regulate car safety, and make gun ownership safe and sensible.
- Promote better public education and social services with adequate staffing, reasonable jobs, fair pay, and welcoming state-of-the-art facilities. Too often in compromised, one-size-fits-all schools, there is not the staffing, programming, or environment to best serve every student. Better school supports will improve service to every child.
- Help parents out--too many parents are struggling to do what is right and good for their children. Ensure that families have what they need to support the best that their children can be.
- Encourage people to report those that they worry about to organizations that may help.
- Provide avenues of healthy recreation for all people beginning at an early age.
- Create rules for media that prevent the spread of hateful, hurtful information. For example, many are pointing to Tucker Carlson's words as motivation for this Buffalo mass murder--Carlson clearly spreads deadly, hateful information all the time. He does it for ratings and to increase his personal profit--he has made a greedy, deadly choice in life. Also, I've noticed lately that a lot of ads on television, particularly HULU, promote dangerous behavior related to alcohol. Vulnerable, lonely people are often victims of media manipulation, so we have to make sure what's spread widely on the media is not destructive and destructive.