the fact that lil yacht wrote “stripes on my ass so he call this pussy tigger” makes me feel a range of emotions that i can not decipher...

ten. there had been ten school shootings in the usa just this year prior to jan 23rd. two days ago, my community was rocked by the eleventh. two dead. twenty injured. all children. teenagers. a frantic mother clung to her cell phone, shot after shot ringing out, trying to get her daughter to respond to no avail. two families lives shattered. what does this say about american society as a whole? treat others the way you want to be treated. we’ve all heard this at one time or another. but why is it so hard to apply in everyday adolescent life? why do we invest so much time in trying to earn approval from others that we are willing to throw under people under the bus to do so? words hurt. bullying hurts. throw in the popularity of social media platforms and you now have the perfect breeding ground for toxic behavior. schools are supposed to be safe places. two kids will never have the opportunity to achieve their dreams. hundreds of students forever traumatized by such a senseless act. a fifteen year old, who felt so alone he chose to cope by taking his anger and grief out on his peers, threw his future away after pleading for help & being ignored. you never know who is hurting underneath the exterior. your words matter. be kind. choose friendship. choose love, always.