"Mommy, can you check under my bed?"

That's a phrase that probably ever parent has heard and every child has spoken. It's no mystery that one of the biggest fears that children have is of monsters hiding under their bed. I have no shame in saying that I had that fear for the longest time.

But, like many things in life, we grow out of our fears... or if you're like myself, then you become a little wiser as the years go on and realize that the monsters under your bed should have been the least of your worries, even at six years old.

Quickly, my fear of hypothetical monsters transformed into my fear of actual monsters: mankind.

Let me elaborate...

There are monsters in this world. My six year old self wasn't too far off. However, I don't mean the kind that lurk in the shadows and live under your bed. I mean the kind that walk around on the streets in broad daylight. The kind that smile at you in the grocery line. The kind that sits next to you in the movie theater. The "average man," so to speak.

Mankind.

That word holds so much meaning and power. That word is what this society is made up of. That word is what has changed the universe. That word is what has caused so much pain and suffering and what has endured so much of that as well.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that as we grow older we become more aware of the atrocities in this world and of the people who are held responsible for them. We also understand that getting rid of our fears isn't as simple as having our moms turn on the lights and take a quick look under our bed. Our fears aren't irrational anymore. They are real and much worse than those childish fears we once had a lifetime ago.

It's terrifying if you think about it. That women who held the door open for you could be keeping her children locked in her basement, malnourished and on the brink of death. That man who waved a "thank you" to you because you allowed him to cross the street could try to rid himself of his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle and then beat his wife senselessly. That high school boy who gave you his class notes from yesterday when you were out sick could be planning to kill your classmates the next day for making his life hell every day since junior high.

Anybody. That is who could be responsible for the next tragedy in the headlines. That is who could hurt others without blinking. That is who is capable of causing so much pain and suffering to one person or even an entire population.

Anybody is capable of these crimes that we see much too often on the news. We look at the people who commit these disgusting, disturbing terrors, and we immediately think, "who could do such a thing?" or "what kind of person would do that?" Anyone. That's who. That guys who stabbed his pregnant girlfriend was drinking coffee just like you and I were this morning.

Anyone can be the next headline.

People blame mental illness for most of the tragedies that occur (school shootings, rape, murder, etc.) While that is a factor in SOME of these tragedies, circumstance is responsible for MOST. Whether or not someone came from a poor and abusive background. Whether or not someone received a good education. Whether or not someone was bullied throughout their adolescence. All of these circumstances in someone's life play a part in pushing them towards doing such horrid things.

While some believe that we, as individuals, are held solely accountable for our actions, others believe that circumstance and environments are responsible for determining the path that our lives take.

Here's what I believe: we are all susceptible to being tomorrow's headline, whether by choice or as a result of our life's circumstances.

So... if you're reading this and thinking "No she's wrong. I would never be so heartless and do such inhumane things," you might want to think twice. There's a monster inside of all of us. Whether or not it is released depends on whether this monster is nurtured, voluntarily or involuntarily.

And that truth, my friends, is a hell of a lot scarier than my six year old self's irrational fear of a monster living under my bed.