How many more tragedies will it take before someone really makes a difference? This change will not come from banning guns or not allowing anyone from outside the country in. This is not a "Gay Issue", "Muslim Issue" or any other stereotypical issue that you can think of.

This is a hate and un-acceptance issue.

While violence is not the answer for anything, neither is hate and stereotyping. Yes, people do bad things, but when we hate and put labels on them, we continue their effect.

Think about it. In order to create peace in this world, we need to spread it everyday. Whether that be large or small acts of kindness towards anyone and everyone. Don't judge them for their different beliefs or opinions and make fun of them for what they grew up learning. Everyone is different and that's what makes the world so great and so destructive at the same time. If we learn to channel our differences in ways that would benefit us as a whole, maybe there wouldn't be these masses of violence.

In the way our world is now, people from other countries come to ours knowing that they will be judged just for the way that they look. Knowing that so many of the people in the world see them and automatically are afraid and hate them. This terror has even caused people to refrain from traveling because they think that they will be abducted or killed. This mindset has to stop. While there are a few radicals out there, not everyone will radicalize in the future.

But maybe you can stop one from radicalizing by showing kindness towards them at some point in their life. Many are taught this hateful mindset or have experienced some un-acceptance in their life and decide that they need to act on it. Show them that there are still kind people out there.

This doesn't just go for people from other countries, there are also many shootings and violent acts that result from bullying and harassment in schools and just in life in general. While the general reaction to these terrible events is "that person was messed up" or "they must be a psychopath", these are not always the case.

Many of these people experienced hate in their life before and couldn't take it any more. While this is not a good excuse for their actions, it brings up a good question: could this have been prevented?

Please, be kind to everyone around you and remind others to spread the love as well. You never know who could be struggling and close to their breaking point. The world is a scary place right now, but it doesn't have to be. I know this change won't happen right away, but it's something that needs to be worked on.