Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty children, six adults murdered.

Santa Fe High School. Eight students, two adults murdered.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Fourteen students, three adults murdered.

What’s the common thread among all these tragedies? Three individuals with guns and an intent to kill. Through the past few years, our nation has been increasingly haunted by the trauma of school shootings, and everybody with a conscience agrees that this is a problem in desperate need of solution--but what?

A popular area of focus is that of guns, with both sides of the political aisle making them central to their proposals. Many democrats claim the best solution is to restrict the availability of guns, especially those dubbed “assault weapons”, through legislation. On the other hand, many republicans will claim the best solution is to increase security within schools by arming school security guards and trained teachers with guns.

However, while I think these proposals are well-intended, I don’t believe they address the root of the issue: the mindset, motivation, and mental health of school shooters. What enables so many individuals to become capable of committing unhesitant acts of mass murder? Is it mental illness? Is it poor upbringing? I would say that it’s both, but both only in part.

Rather, I argue that these tragedies are an inevitable result of our society’s moral decay. Despite the virtue-signalling calls to “say something if you see something,” people mentally at-risk for mass murder are often socially rejected and isolated in our schools. They become isolated from mainstream society and sink into a quicksand of negative thoughts, eventually allowed to conclude that revenge is the only justice for the wrongs they feel against them.

So how do we prevent this? As a society, we need to look inward rather than outward and examine for ourselves how we can be better.

Be Helpful rather than Hurtful. Loving rather than Hating. Inviting rather than Isolating. Friendly rather than Shunning. Encouraging rather than Shaming.

Let’s not be so quick to dehumanize these perpetrators and blame some externality, be it guns, mental illness, or else. Instead, let’s recognize and change where the heart of our problem and solution lies: within our flawed humanity and the choices we make towards love and hate.