One step against mass shooters

We live in a society that values fame above all.  People want to be known for something.  At least, they do, until they grow up, and accept the responsibilities of an adult.

Years ago, I wrote the following in a blog post about a series of young adult books that taught the wrong lesson:

Here's an important life lesson that should be communicated to children at all times. Your role in society will probably be something that no one will want to write a book about, or translate to film. Despite that, your life will be successful. You will have a job, good friends, a special someone, a home, a community, interests, and hobbies.

The essential point is that few people will become famous, and children need to learn that as part of growing up.  But this post was written years before YouTube, which allows a much larger number of people to become famous.

Now, what happens if you don't even have the talent to become YouTube famous?

Hopefully, you learned from watching your family, your friends, and the prominent members of your community that none of that is necessary to be successful.

But for those who don't learn that lesson, especially boys who come from broken homes with absent fathers and no strong male figures in their lives?

The mass media is still willing to make them famous, if they commit an act of suitable evil.

But they don't have to do this.

What if the latest mass shooter was referred to in all media coverage by the serial number 20180214-FL-A?  What if, instead of putting the shooter's picture on the broadcast, they instead used an image reduced to block pixels that make an Atari 2600 image look like a Rembrandt portrait?  What if, instead of making a person famous, they treated him like the non-person he was?

What would the next potential mass shooter think?