School shootings, instantaneous culture and the necessity for Nap Time

We are a culture obsessed with the instantaneous.

Feel bad: do something to change it.
Lonely: go online.
Horny: go out to the lamp-post.
Ignored: get rich and famous.
Rejected/alienated/angry: buy a gun, use it and achieve instant notoriety.

The common denominator is: I don't like how I feel; so I fix it...now.

The fact is the youth of even a few decades ago were not exposed to as much entertainment-driven violence as the youth of today. And this, coupled with the fear-based stories and the psycho-babble rationales of the media, and you have a recipe for disaster. In the last 14 days that disaster transpired into four school shootings -- three in the United States and one in Canada.

Of course article after article after article waxes on about the reasons, the motives the impetus behind the mass murders. They dive into the blog-rolls, the childhood secrets, the nocturnal habits -- all in an effort to paint the fearful picture of a person that lost the plot.

As such, the horror of such an act is amplified by media attention -- and media attention is dictated by consumer habits. The more we watch -- to 'understand' what happened -- the more we feed into the voyeuristic notion that "them" shooters are completely disassociated from "us" people.

Reality check.
Almost all of us have experienced rage. Seering, tormenting, see-red rage. And, sadly enough, many of us have acted out on this rage. The fact that the vast majority of us do not premeditate our rageful outbursts is, indeed, a hopeful sign, but it does not exempt us from the impetus...the desire...the justified need to violently react. And yet, we sit at our teles; we watch the images of the killers, the images of the slain and we shake our heads, while sitting comfortably in our homes shame, shame, shaming our way into smug, self-contented satisfaction.

Yes, it is absolutely horrendous what is happening. Yet, given the fact that constructed timelines of all North American shootings start only a decade ago, we cannot ignore that our society, our culture must, in some way, be held responsible.

I do not presume to exonerate the shooters. Had they not died in their violent acts, I would be the first clamouring to bring them to justice. But I do not think that our banal attempts at psychoanalyzing why these specific individuals are, alone, psychotic, is going to help the situation. While each person is responsible for their individual actions we cannot presume that society and culture do not influence us (or them) -- to assume that it does not buys into the great American facade of individualism.

And that is why I started this statement with the notion that we are a culture obsessed with the instantaneous. Rather than sit with feelings of fear, anger, alienation or rage, we are taught to go out there and DO SOMETHING: Make a mark; make a difference; take a stand; make a statement; be an individual.

And this concept of individualization (be different, be noticed = be respected) is big business. How many corporations market their product based on its edginess? How many fashion trends (such as tattoos) have become mainstream (and yes, I just got a second one). How many bands, artists, writers, and marketing campaigns have tried to stand out from the crowd by being the best, brightest and most unique?

Over and over again, our culture markets the notion of instantaneous. Over and over again, we buy into it. Whether its "live war footage", fad diets, get-rich quick schemes or quick-fix pain elixirs (vodka comes to mind) the common denominator is to replace humanity with commonality...only market it as different.

As such, I have a radical, and rather serious suggestion: Nap time.

While you may have scoffed at my soap opera suggestion, I implore you to consider the nap time option.

Just think of it. When we were children we would get cranky. We could either act out this anger on our closest enemy (formerly a friend, but moods change so quickly on the daycare floor) or we took a nap. Usually the second option was imposed, but you get the point. So what happened? We awoke refreshed. We no longer wanted to hit our friend (no longer our enemy) and, instead, went about our tasks for that day (sandcastles, building blocks, blanket forts, whatever).

Fast forward to the teen years. What if we imposed nap time on the teens? First, it would pry them away from the computer/iPod/video console for at least an hour. Second, it would force them to stay present in a state of dis-ease -- who really wants to give up a mind-numbing activity in order to deal with mundane reality? Then, it would teach them to relax (can't sleep without relaxing) and if they didn't relax, the imposed nap time would force them to lie quietly, without the option of a quick fix for the way they feel. The same process would apply to adults only the nap time would have to be regulated and structured so that business could persist without the chaos of arbitrary snoozes. Still, you get the point.

So, yes, I am horrified by the events that took place in Pennslyvania this week and Montreal last week. As K-Dough put it: my soul hurts.

But I'm also horrified that we do so little self-reflection as a society that we are unwilling to take responsibility for what we do, as a collective, that helps to perpetuate these violent acts.

While nap time would not absolve the past crimes, or solve future rage-filled outbursts, it may enable us to become a more reflective, contemplative and not-so-instaneous society. And that, that fundamental change, will go a long way in preventing another shooting.