The shock runs deep after the rampage in Graz. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, alongside Mayor Elke Kahr (KPÖ), made an effort at a memorial service to find the right words. Which is impossible. On the one hand, the effort counts, and on the other, in connection with it, at least saying something. That can provide comfort.
Van der Bellen also defined two questions for the future on this occasion: How is it possible that a 21-year-old, the perpetrator, could apparently get hold of weapons so easily? Yes, how could that be, even though he was classified as unfit by the military service commission because he was "psychologically unstable"? This needs to be tightened. Because individuals can cause such immeasurable suffering, one might find more than ever that private individuals should not have pistols and rifles. Hunters and sport shooters excepted. However, even for them, the regulations should be reviewed.
Furthermore, the Federal President raised the question of how to improve security at kindergartens and schools. Well: This problem might already be alleviated by expanding bans on weapon possession.
More important would be another question: The situation in schools could be improved if we first took a closer look at how the students are doing. We know alarmingly little about this: There are grades and PISA tests that are supposed to reflect performance, but hardly any information about how students cope with the school system, how they get along with other students, what the biggest problems are, where one could start, etc.
Knowing such things would also mean taking young people seriously. It is high time for that. It would be much more beneficial than new security concepts, even security personnel for schools.
Moreover, the question about the media should be raised: What some, mostly belonging to the tabloid segment, have offered by spreading images of the attacker and videos from the school that were made during and immediately after the rampage is a scandal. It is disrespectful to the victims and their families. And it is irresponsible, as media ethicist Claudia Paganini explained in an interview with the "Kleine Zeitung".
In principle, the perpetrator should not be given a face. Otherwise, he is more likely to be perceived as a role model and idol by people with violent fantasies, who might even want to imitate him. After all, the example shows them that they can at least gain prominence once more – in a gruesome way and posthumously, but still.
Moreover, videos of the rampage could lead to habituation effects and desensitization. According to Paganini, the consequences are fatal: "An entire society becomes coarser and no longer perceives the suffering of other people as an evil, or only to a limited extent."
Johannes Huber runs the blog dieSubstanz.at – Analyses and Backgrounds on Politics
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.