Specifically School Shootings (Newsletter No. 57)

“Pure evil.” It’s a history-old phenomena that young men are the most dangerous animals. With the volatile brains of boys and the strength of men. Cain.

These killers are the children that weren’t paid attention to enough, raised by guardians too tired to hold them accountable. These were the kids that were bullied beyond what they could bear. They become isolated from society enough to become sufficiently un-empathetic and entitled with a warped sense of reality. They become the frogs that think the opening of the well is the whole sky. Life isn’t fair, but they make it irredeemable. So angry at the world that they destruct it in the most destructive way—killing children. Resentfully killing the past they never had, spitefully killing the future. That is pure hatred for humanity.

These killers are still children as well, barely having started their own lives but feeling like they’ve already lived a lifetime of compounding slights. “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” ― Margaret Atwood

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Check on the boys (check on the girls, too, but here I’m talking about the threat of male violence) at your social gatherings, family gatherings, your classes. The ones that stand off from the group all of the time, the ones that always have a smartphone or Switch in their hands, the ones that are always in their rooms. The ones that never seem mentally present. The ones that have no hobbies or friends. It doesn’t have to be a confrontational conversation, get to know them through idle chatter. Guide them towards empathy and regard for themselves and others, show them they have agency, a right, a responsibility to pursue happiness without harming others, to try and make their community a better place. Show them how to respect women, children, those less fortunate or able than them.