"You're under arrest!! Put your hands up!" I hear one of my preschoolers yelling at his friend. I walk over to them to hear the rest of their conversation. The little boy "under arrest" asks what he did wrong. The "police officer" says, "You were not scootering properly and it was a danger to the playground!" I ask him whether he wants to be a police officer when he grows up and he nods enthusiastically. "I want to keep people safe," he says.

What a long way reality is from that scene on the playground. I couldn't get it out of my head as I watched the news that night. What happens between ages 4 and 24 that completely goes wrong? Who is really to blame? As I sat before the TV watching violence and rage, I came to a conclusion...we all are...and here's why:

1. America breeds a society of entitlement

Somewhere between 1950 and 1990, something went VERY wrong in our country. Government aid that was supposed to help people who really needed it became a crutch to those who felt they should receive something just for living here. We are guaranteed the right to PURSUE happiness...not guaranteed happiness.

2. The media embellishes, dramatizes, and sets their own agendas about police officers

The media focuses so much on "bad cops" that it makes it seem like they are in the majority. I got pulled over by a police officer a week before he was murdered by a man on drugs. That police officer was polite, caring, and kind. He was also African American. I know that officers like him make up most police departments but the media won't be honest about that.

3. No one cares when a black man murders a black man or a white man murders a white man

Racism in this country has risen to levels seen in the 50s and 60s. I don't understand racism. It is disgusting to me. But I do know that racism is coming from both sides...and why aren't we just as disgusted when someone kills someone of their own race? Why are we not rising up to stop murders in general? The national news didn't carry a story from my hometown about a black man killing another black man. The national news didn't cover another story from my hometown about a white man killing another white man. The media is creating a firestorm of racist hate.

4. Drugs are at inexcusable levels

Drugs have a grip on people in this country. Drugs lead people to kill out of desperation. They lead to altercations with police that escalate more quickly than normal. Our government frequently turns a blind eye to them but something must be done.

5. America embraces stereotypes

Let me start out by saying I do not agree with the actions of the police officers in Minnesota or Louisiana, but I do know that they are in the minority. I also know that many black people are kind, hard-working, and wonderful people. However, the American people seem to latch on to stereotypes and make blanket statements about entire groups of people. Most police officers aren't bad. Most black men aren't bad. But the actions of a few have been allowed to taint the entire population.

I pray that this makes you think a little bit about your own views on the recent tragic events happening here. We are destroying our own country from the inside out. People who place their lives on the line everyday are not being respected. Community members are not being listened to. Maybe it's time all of us "adults" went out to a preschool playground and learned something.