Though Catalog: Another Gun Violence

In a world where ideological ideas, whether good or bad, are increasingly accessible, we must, as adults, step in and teach the younger generation to be more discerning. Gun violence among young people is becoming an increasingly alarming reality across Southeast Asia. We have witnessed how awful, traumatic, and egregious these incidents can be.

We have to admit it and face the reality: gun violence is here. School shootings are here.

Our focus should not be on pointing fingers or finding someone to blame. Now, more than ever, our focus should be on rebuilding the foundation of values and discipline that defines the very fabric of our society, because what we are witnessing now is the rot that has slowly crept into our world. 

This is not just about kids being easily influenced. This is not just about bullying. This is not just about online games. This is the unbecoming of a society. And if all of us continue pointing fingers at one another, we'll just run out of time before everything falls into chaos. 

Let us call on our policymakers to do their work and make sensible, practical, and responsive laws. Let us call on our communities to restore the values that once defined us. And let us begin in our own homes, teaching our young people that violence is never the answer, that we are here to listen, and that one mistake can never justify another.

Because if we are to fight injustice, we must be careful not to become the very injustice we oppose.

Sadly, in a society marred by generations of abuse, inequality, and social division, the hope of finding balance and harmony can sometimes feel as dim as the fading light of a distant nebula.

But perhaps that is precisely why we cannot give up.

Because when the world becomes darker, our responsibility is not to add to the darkness. It is to become the light that keeps the next generation from losing its way.

xxx

Please talk to the young people around you. Check on them. Ask them how they are doing, and more importantly, listen.

And if you ever find yourself in need of a listening ear, know that I am always willing to be that ear.