On February 14th, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida outside of Boca Raton a tragedy occurred. 17 innocent high school students lost their lives due to being shot by a 19 year old former student who had previously been expelled and others were injured.

The casualness of school shootings is devastating. To hear someone say, "Oh sh*t there's another one" referring to students being brutally murdered while others scarred for the rest of their lives from terror is not something that should be paired together. Parents are losing children, friends are losing friends and teachers are losing students. That is not casual and we shouldn't let it be because casualness is what is letting this continue.

Many people think the solution is to blame gun control. While it is easy to blame gun control the argument is there are bad people who have guns, but there are no bad guns who have people. Thus, the problem is the people behind the guns but also the people ignoring signs that occur in front of them or around them on social media. Studies show that in almost every single case there is at least either digital, written or spoken evidence of signs shown beforehand by the criminal before their crime is committed. This isn't a matter of politics or gun control it's simply a matter of mental illness and problems with the shooter considering it takes heightened emotions to the extreme to be able to kill innocent people on a spree.

In conclusion, while it seems like there is nothing you can do to prevent or help with shootings it's important as people to look out for each other. If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental illness it is important to seek help because you never know when it could save a life.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Hotline: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673