Vice season 6 episode 4: The Parkland Effect
By Grant Butler
On the most recent episode of Vice, they take a look at the recent gun debate and the movement to arm teachers in schools.
The episode begins with a short recap of the shooting that took place this February in Parkland, Florida. Then they explore an actual training facility where teachers receive training by law enforcement on how to handle a firearm.
They are also instructed on how to approach a school shooting situation. After this, Vice interviewed Jeanne Assam. She is a retired cop who was able to stop a mass shooter at the New Life Church in Colorado in December of 2007 with her own gun.
But Assam doesn’t support firearm training for teachers. She argued that unless you have a law enforcement background, you do not have an appropriate mindset for how to handle the situation.
While interviewing a gun rights activist on the ability to buy an AR-15, Vice perfectly captured the dilemma with gun violence without trying to.
While still filming, they’re informed that another shooting had just taken place and more news was coming. The shooting in question was the one that occurred at YouTube after Parkland.
This is the issue made plain in stark terms. While discussing one mass shooting, people learn that an entirely new one had just occurred.
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This shows that before people can fully understand what happened in one mass shooting, everything just begins all over again. An entirely new mass shooting happens and the object of attention shifts. As a result, this cycle just keeps happening.
Vice airs on HBO on Fridays and is On Demand through their app.