Today, if you turn on the television and watch the news, it is almost guaranteed you will see or hear about a violent act someone has committed, whether that be a mass shooting, police brutality, protests during a presidential candidate rally, or everyday violent occurrences. Violence has become a norm, and for some people, violent acts are encouraged. This can be an overwhelmingly scary thought; violence is not something that should even be thought of as a means of retaliation.

Violence, unfortunately, is a vicious cycle, and one that is hard to break. For example, abusive relationships are cycles where the victim becomes suffocated and smothered by the dominant. Similarly, once violence is learned, it is difficult to break that way of thinking. As human beings, violence isn’t natural, it is something that is taught; children, teenagers, and even young adults learn to become violent, they most likely aren’t born with a violent trait. We are influenced by the world around us, which ultimately reflects our society as whole. Today, the United States is one of the most violent developed countries in the world, meaning we have a large population full of violent people. As the millennial generation, we need to put an end to so much hatred in our society.

It is important for us to realize that violence is never an answer in any situation. If you try to fight fire with fire, you only get a bigger fire (or an inferno), and an inferno is practically impossible to put out. Nothing good ever comes out of violent acts. In the end, it is always a lose-lose situation. Take wars, for example. Each party involved in a war is going to have lives lost. Protests that become violent result in having protesters arrested, and others who may have been innocent end up getting injured or even sometimes killed.

History has shown us that violent acts get the most innocent of people killed. It has also shown us that some of the greatest nonviolent acts send the biggest message and ultimately are what end up getting the most justice. For example, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi are faces for nonviolence movements. Each of these individuals stood for what they believed in and let their peaceful actions speak the loudest. These activists were able to gain support because they peacefully protested and spoke out for what they believed in.

The more we continue to use violence as a means of retaliation in our society, the more violent our society becomes. We need to come together and realize the violent acts that we, as citizens, partake in are unacceptable and we must all stop allowing these types of violent acts to continue in our country. Human beings are meant to engage and protect one another while working together. The sooner we take a stand against violence, the more peaceful our society and world will become.