I grew up in a small town in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I spent 14 years of my life residing in this sleepy town. Perkasie, PA, a quiet and quaint little town full of character and history. I liked growing up there.

I spent my years as a cheerleader and followed this path until I achieved my ultimate goal of varsity cheerleading as a junior and senior. I always had a lot of school pride, I followed all the sports teams and enjoyed being a part of the Friday night lights and winters spent in the gym with basketball.I genuinely liked my school, my town, it all just felt safe. We all said "nothing ever happens in Perkasie". Perkasie is home, it is safe and it is quiet. I was lucky to grow up in a good place.

I am currently three years removed from high school, and I sit here with a different feeling about my hometown. I have moved out of state since I have graduated, and most news I receive from back home is less than stellar.

In the years since I have graduated, I have become acquainted with the bad news. I am used to the news about an old friend overdosing on drugs. I am used to hearing about friends committing to institutions due to mental breaks. I am used to hearing about the massive drug pushes across my beloved hometown. In all honesty, I feel I have become numb to all this. I used to sit and ask myself, why did I not intervene, why did I not help my friend, how did I not know this was happening. Numb. I am numb to the bad news, it stopped phasing me.

A couple weeks ago, the biggest news was dropped on me. An acquaintance had been killed, a major thing happened. An old friend was shot and killed at a significant park in the town. A park I spent a lot of time at, a park that was a hot spot in the community. I was told the story of how high school aged kids planned to rob someone. My friend, many people's friend, was the target and for some reason these young kids decided to kill him at the hand of a gun.

I unfroze. I was no longer numb to the bad news. I became angry. The community is angry. A 19-year old kid lost his life for a terrible reason. These were kids, just kids that followed through with this.

My once quiet, beautiful, sleepy town has now been tainted with the image of many friends who have lost their lives to drugs and violence.

I am writing looking for answers, this whole community is looking for answers. How to you move past knowing a friends lost to battles you wish you could have stopped, move past knowing that someone you once knew followed through with something so terrible. I cannot wrap my head around it, these are just kids. Kids who lost these battles. My sister, my brother, they walk the halls of my once safe haven, they are being faced with these challenges that are beyond their years. I cannot imagine being 16-years old in high school and facing these same issues. I promise, kids, life is not supposed to be like this.

I am calling for change. Step in and help a friend in need, please. In all honesty, step in even if you don't know the person. Stop a friend from making a bad decision. Recognize that every person's life is important. They don't need to be the prettiest, the fastest, the most popular, all lives are important. We need to stop losing kids to such grown up battles - to drugs, to self-hatred, to guns. We all need to stop staying quiet, we cannot push these things under the rug. These things are happening all over the country, and they are now knocking on our front door. I never considered myself a grown-up, but I want to take on this role for these kids. These high school kids that just faced such a tragic situation. Let's teach kindness, teach neighborly behavior, let us be an example for a generation shocked by this tragedy. Hug your classmates, support one another, respect your life and other's lives. Most importantly, let's try to make this the last tragedy. Our hearts can't take much more.