Analysis of School Shooting Phenomenon and Its Mediatization from the Perspective of Digital Humanitaristics

Abstract

The severity of the problem of school shooting (mass attacks in educational institutions with the use of weapons) is due to its viral spread in the countries and the tragic consequences caused. The study of this phenomenon is on the frontier of social, psychological, informational, philosophical, legal studies. This has led to an interdisciplinary approach to its study, combining the possibilities of case-study and digital humanitaristics, applying data analysis described in this paper. The aim of the study is to identify the factors of school shooting promotion in the media and to comprehend the complex of external and internal reasons that trigger it. The object of the study is the episodes of school shootings committed in 2023, including attacks in the United States, Russia and the Czech Republic. The specifics and similarities of the attacks committed in educational institutions are revealed, their media coverage and audience reactions to the crimes are analyzed. A comparative analysis of cases of school shooting as an existential crime-manifestation of personality and the media effect caused by it, which can cause “viral” imitation and dissemination, is presented for the first time. The results of the research can be applied not only in theoretical aspect in philosophical-anthropological, social and media studies, but also in practical sphere for teachers, psychologists, specialists in work with youth.