Panic (Bloodlands collection)

by Harold Schechter

Sociologists refer to these periodic alarms as “moral panics” and describe them as a form of mass hysteria, typically ignited by a handful of shockingly similar crimes that happen in rapid succession. Sensationalistic reporting in the news media—coupled with the doomsday pronouncements of moral crusaders—persuades the public that these incidents represent a new and terrifying threat to the social order. A distinguishing feature of moral panics is that the fear they provoke is far out of proportion to any actual threat. The school shootings that followed on the heels of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre were undeniably horrific. Contrary to the claims of assorted Chicken Littles, however, they were not symptomatic of “an epidemic of seemingly depraved adolescent murderers” (in the words of one tabloid pundit). In fact, as statistical data showed, “violence-related deaths at the nation’s schools dropped to a record low” during the period in question.[3] Empirical evidence, however, has little effect on irrational belief. A few terrible crimes are all it takes to set a moral panic in motion.