Mental Health Monday's--Stop the Violence

So this isn't the typical Let's Talk post, but it is something very heavy on my heart.

School shootings have been so frequent lately, more than it has been in a long time.  A couple weeks ago there were 2 on the same day, one in Santa Fe, TX and one in Jonesboro, GA. I'll link a couple of the articles down at the bottom. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. It really is evidence of the times.  Back in the day, it wasn't like that. I can easily say that. I'm 25. You didn't hear about school shootings like that when I was in school, and that's including all the way through undergrad. The biggest thing that I remember is the Virginia Tech shooting. That doesn't mean that other scandals didn't happen. It just was never to the extreme that somebody would come onto campus with a loaded weapon and opened fire.

It truly is a reflection of the times. Nowadays, kids are raised too soft. I say that with complete confidence. Back when I was growing up, the "no bullying" policy was passed, but I mean it didn't really stop anything. Bullying was like a right of passage. It just happens. It's like a hazing period. Somebody bullied you back then, and you either put up or shut up. In my house, if you loss the fight you better go back out there and fight again. If you didn't fight, just get over it. Nobody now wants to just get over it. I get it, not everybody has thick skin, but maybe that's part of the problem.

Something that came to mind was an interview Kevin Hart did. I think it was with George Lopez or Conan or somebody, but he said he teases his kids because then when they hear it from other kids it doesn't mean anything. Now, somebody says you're ugly, and they want to shoot up a school. I'm not saying that's always the case, but being mentally prepared to deal with other people helps.

It's not just that. Too often people don't learn how to resolve issues, they just go to the most extreme resolution. I remember being in elementary school, there were issues between people. I had to be in 5th grade. Instead of just fighting and getting over it, one of the boys, Carlos, brought a gun to school. For what? At 10-11 years old, why do you feel like you need to shoot anybody? It's a learned behavior. He didn't just get the gun from out of thin air. Eventually, about 4 years later, Carlos was killed because of gun violence. 

Gun violence is nothing new, and honestly it should've been dealt with years and years ago, but it wasn't. I mean yes, I grew up in an area where gun violence was the norm. That doesn't make it right. In my house, we were raised to fight. Never hit first, but if you're going to fight, you better not lose. After the fight, there was no issue. I never felt the need to potentially end someone's life. It just wasn't like that. 

Ending someone's life doesn't make you powerful. It doesn't make you a big deal. It makes you stupid. You just ended someone's life over a couple dollars? You're going to spend 25+ years in prison over a few dollars that you're not going to get either way. It's pointless. 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/18/us/texas-school-shooting/index.html

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/breaking-multiple-people-shot-mount-zion-high-school-police-say/fKmGV5rP6tZA1QthMTtyCN/