School shootings have caused major uproar in the past few decades especially when it comes to media coverage. Doing some research I was surprised how many shootings I was not made aware of; this got me thinking, why are some shootings sometimes even disregarded in comparison to other shootings? What factors play into the amount of media coverage and attention a shooting gets when they are all equally as important? Do Race, age, setting, death and injury count?
All deaths relating to school shootings are bad, every individual, in every school shooting scenario. When we see the words “Mass School Shooting” viewers infer that means a lot of people were involved. Viewers love numbers, how many were injured, how many were killed, and how old the victims were. In the past two decades the events most talked about are the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting resulting in 28 deaths and 2 injuries, 2022 Uvalde Texas shooting with 22 deaths and 21 injuries, the parkland shooting with 17 deaths and 18 injuries according to wikipedia. These three alone took more than 50 lives of children in spaces of education.
However, some scenarios have the opposite effect when it comes to number taking over coverage depending on relevance. On Sept. 11 2025 Charlie Kirk was shot by a college student and Utah Valley University; this tragedy took over the internet when it happened because of the relevance Kirk had in America. Although there was one life taken opposed to over 20, it was just as impactful for the Country. This example alone had many people discouraged. There have been over ten tragedies this year alone in schools that have taken lives that not many people are aware of simply because of the lack of “relevance” or “impact” these people made before their lives were taken away from them. Every child, every student, every teacher who loses their life due to gun violence matters. Their deaths affect so much more than just them but their families, their friends and their communities. Each death unravels a variety of other lives that usually goes unnoticed. Whether that be one life taken or 20, all of them deserve to be noticed and honored.
The media plays such an overwhelming role in everything. Especially the events are perceived and how the public consumes it. One outlet could have most of its focus on the perpetrator while another could focus more on the event itself with what and how it happened. When one big outlet highlights a shooting, other outlets hop on that wagon and it circulates bouncing off each other. This could also explain lack of coverage for “smaller” shootings, lack of coverage. Usually when these “smaller” shootings happen local news networks cover it rather than a national source, this prevents the broad circulation that happens with mass school shootings.
How can this problem be addressed? The main solution would be to find ways to eliminate school shootings entirely. A large majority of these perpetrators are past alumni. This does not place blame on these schools but there can be a big focus on providing a positive and uplifting environment for students during enrollment. It is argued that this is not the best long term solution. However, there is a variety of strong opinions that state starting somewhere is better than waiting until there is a more permanent solution relating to gun violence as a whole: Like restricting access to firearms.
How can we as high school students help recognize and honor victims? Social media is powerful and teenagers spend a lot of time on social media—much more time than they spend watching news networks. Something as little as posting and reposting to spread awareness. Many communities do things to honor victims, doing something like attending a vigil or other community events makes an impact. Donate to help, reach out to families and provide love and support and listen with compassion. Be an advocate for gun violence prevention, advocate for change and deeper background checks and storage laws when it comes to firearms. The most simple way to make a difference is to be a beacon of light, using the media relating to shootings to implement change and difference, an example of this is The Sandy Hook Promise.
The Sandy Hook Promise is a nonprofit organization that was started in 2013 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a way of spreading awareness to prevent gun violence and to implement policy and change. One of the benefits of the Sandy Hook Promise is that students around the country can report anything that seems like it could be a threat, this nonprofit alone has prevented 19 potential school shootings, most recently being a High School in the Bay area earlier this September.
