Young generations in America are growing up in a world where school shootings are recurrent. Some even view them as an unfortunate fact of life. On Feb. 13, 2023, a mass shooting occurred on Michigan State University's campus, taking the lives of three students. Since then, many have reacted differently to stories of shootings and other acts of terror.

As assistant professor of advertising and public relations Fashina Alade explained, there is no one-size-fits-all reaction that stems from violent exposure, but there is a strong relationship between that exposure and the development of a more negative outlook on the world.

"One of the most classic psychology theories is called the cultivation theory, which says that our world views are shaped by the media and what we see around us," Alade said. "One of the big things that came out of that is what we call the mean world syndrome, which has shown that people who watch more television news are more likely to believe that the world is a violent and scary place."

It is likely that the more harsh content that someone is exposed to, the less shocking it can become to them. Additionally, Alade said the more real it is or the more real it may seem, the more prominent that effect is.

"If you’re watching a lot of violent content, especially realistic violent content, you are more likely to believe that the world is full of violence," Alade said. "Some people can be afraid when they’re exposed to violence, other people are more likely to become desensitized to it and think that it’s not that big of a deal."

There is not one answer to the question of what affects media has on desensitization, Alade explained. Instead, it is mostly the way in which people react to stories of tragic events in the media that can lead them to becoming desensitized.

"I actually think that the problem has more to do with the fact that we are actually experiencing real violence," Alade said. "I think, as humans, the way that we are coping with all of this bad news all the time is just by turning off that switch in our brain. Otherwise we’d just be crying all the time."

For students like advertising creative junior Benjamin Stewart and landscape architecture junior Ryan Patterson who witnessed shootings first hand, it was easy to turn off that switch until it became part of their realities.

"Prior to that event, the things in the news felt like fantasy, like something that would never really happen to me," Stewart said. "When it did happen, it didn’t feel real. It was harder to process and the severity of the situation wasn’t apparent in the moment."

Patterson, who witnessed both the Oxford High School shooting in 2021 and the MSU shooting, said that because mass shootings are so common in the news, people have gotten too used to their existence. 

"The amount of things like that that we see in the news just kind of makes it seem like something that happens on a regular basis. People turn on the news and hear something horrible, but it just doesn’t come as a surprise anymore," Patterson said. "They hear it happening everyday. Those stories don’t have as much of an impact, and they really should because people should be aware of what is truly happening."

Stewart and Patterson both said that seeing violence in the media has a greater effect on them after they had experienced it.

"I was desensitized until I experienced it first hand. I was relying on the fact that it wouldn’t happen to me," Stewart said. "Now, seeing (violence), it makes me very uncomfortable, uneasy. I get tensed up when I see stuff like that."

Patterson said it is easier for him to connect with the saddening stories he sees on the news because he understands what it is like to live through such a tragedy.

"With seeing violence in the media now, I have a greater level of compassion for those who have been affected, for the families who have been affected," Patterson said. "It makes you empathetic. You don’t want someone else to go through the kind of pain that you’ve been through."

Alade said the only way hearing these stories will become easier is by recognizing the issue. 

"What can we do to help people not turn away from violence? That’s a policy question, that’s not a media question," Alade said. "We actually have to fix what’s happening in our world, not blame it on video games."