Piece Of Art

What has May shown us before, as far as shootings tied to specific dates? Is there a reflective copycat effect in store for this May? As opposed to the usual listing of school shootings and community violence incidents by years, I have reshuffled this chronology by type and by calendar date – in order - regardless of what year. It is a myth that more suicides occur in December. The number one month for suicides in North America is May, for all ages. One hundred percent of the school shooters are suicidal, and their rampages issue from their suicidal states of being. Homicide is suicide turned outward. These suicidal-homicidal rages must be viewed thusly to give some insights into what the projected plans for most are - to end in suicide or suicide-by-cop. Look at the data below. An interesting pattern revolves around the 19th through the 21st of May. What anniversary syndrome may be at work for this coming week? After Columbine, exactly a month to the day, the Conyers, Georgia, i...

The New York Times published an obituary, "Leonard Eron, 87, Is Dead; Researcher on TV’s Tie to Violent Conduct" by Jeremy Pearce on May 12, 2007. Here is an excerpt: Leonard D. Eron, a psychologist whose pioneering studies of youth violence led him to conclude that television had a significant role in prompting destructive behavior in later life, died on May 3 at his home in Lindenhurst, Ill., near Chicago He was 87. The cause was congestive heart failure, his family said. In 1960, Dr. Eron (pronounced EE-rahn) began a long-term study of aggression in more than 800 children living in upstate New York. With two other clinical psychologists, Monroe M. Lefkowitz and Leopold O. Walder, and additional researchers, he interviewed 8-year-old children and their parents, evaluating behavior and opening a database to follow the children into adulthood. That work, which continues, became known as the Columbia County Longitudinal Study. Rather than relying on asking the children about ...

The New Scientist magazine published on May 9, 2007, an article by Michael Bond entitled "Can media coverage of suicides inspire copycats?" The opening paragraphs of this treatment reviewed the recent thoughts on the matter after the Virginia Tech shootings. (The publication employed the incorrect spelling of "Cho Seung-hui." The family has been clear that they use the Americanized version of the name, "Seung-Hui Cho.") The article says, in part; On 28 April, the president of the American Psychiatric Association, Pedro Ruiz, did what many of its members wish he had done earlier. He wrote an open letter to the news media asking editors to stop airing photos, video clips and writings of Cho Seung-hui, the student who killed 32 people and then himself at the Virginia Tech campus on 16 April. Ruiz warned that the publicity would inspire copycat suicides and killings. Sounds far-fetched? It isn't. There is compelling evidence that extensive media cov...

I never expected to hear from a school shooting survivor in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, but the following arrived late last week. "I came across your book The Copycat Effect today, and I was blown away. I have lived through a terrible tragedy and relive it every time after hearing about another school shooting. Your depiction of the copycat effect is what I have known for many years. You put things so eloquently and I thank you for all of your research on the subject. I want to say thank you for taking into consideration the exploitation of victims. Anyone that would take that into consideration has my respect." - Natalie Hintz, 1996 school shooting survivor. I was very moved by Ms. Hintz's email, and appreciate that she took the time to contact me. I did write about Ms. Hintz and the 1996 incident that changed her life. No doubt the events at VA Tech brought memories rushing back for her: America’s “first” modern school shooting took place on Groundhog’s D...

"To look for clues rationally in such an irrational document is really a fool's game." - Loren Coleman, as quoted by the Associated Press on April 19, 2007, regarding rationalizations by NBC Nightly News for broadcasting the VA Tech shooter's "press packet." In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, the media more openly discussed the significance of the copycat effect. This is a first, especially for the American media. A couple days ago, a longtime suicide prevention associate of mine emailed me a short but concise message: "I've thought of you so many times since this last major VA Tech event. Even though the media reaction was as expected it seems this time may have been a turning point. Many more people stood up to say the kinds of things you have been saying for years." While the wall-to-wall interest is beginning to wane, it might be a good time to collect some of the quotations published in the print and online media about the copyc...

It is almost three weeks and many people are seemingly moving on from the VA Tech tragedy. Of course, it is not entirely over, in terms of the events to be expected after VA Tech. A Keene State 21-year-old sophomore, Michael Dyke, shot and wounded his roommate, then died by suicide early on Friday, May 4, 2007 (the anniversary of the Kent State's four dead in Ohio in 1970). Today's incident occurred at Dyke's apartment near the Keene State campus in New Hampshire. Dyke graduated in 2004 from the public high school, Rivendell Academy, about 80 miles north in Orford, New Hampshire, where flags flew at half-staff Friday. The shooting occurred on the last day of finals at the college, and two days before graduation. Many students had already left campus. Keene State, part of the University System of New Hampshire, has 5,200 students and specializes in liberal arts, reported CNN . Meanwhile, school shooting plots, bomb threats, and cases of guns being brought into schools were ...