I wasn't originally going to post any thoughts on school shootings, but there have been two more college incidents since last week's shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Now I can't keep my fingers away from my keyboard.

Unfortunately the other two shooting happened Friday, one at Northern Arizona University and the other on the campus of Texas Southern University. That's just scratching the surface when you think of all the violent crime committed by young people off of college campuses, today alone.

Every time there's a mass shooting I ask myself if I should even post my thoughts for two reasons. (1) No one really cares what I think. (2) It's impossible to have a real conversation.

But ya know what chaps muh bum? Even if we wanted to have a serious conversation about this we couldn't because people are so set on being offended by opinions. We can't talk about the shooter because that ticks people off, we can't talk about gun laws because that ticks people off, even talking about mental illness ticks people off. What if this isn't just a solo issue?

What if it's not just a mental health issue, or a gun control problem? It's E (all of the above). It's a bit of everything: guns, mental health, the demise of the family unit, the desensitization due to any number of things (violent TV, 24 hour news, violent video games, access to violent online videos). The list goes on, I'm not saying it's any one of those things, but when you add that stuff up, kids today are exposed to way more than generations before.

The problem is we can't have a civil conversation about it because people are too busy blaming political talking heads who really don't have much power to begin with, and when you say certain words people freak out. If I say we don't need more gun control laws I'm immediately shut down by a left winger, if I say we need better background checks I'm all of a sudden shut down by right wingers. No real conversation.

We think our government is gridlocked? Here's something to think about; the people are the government. These problems run way deeper than anyone of us can imagine and it will take generations to fix.

It would make sense for parents to parent, that might be a solid start. Kids don't need to be exposed to 90% of the stuff they're exposed to. Yes, I'm talking to the parents of the 10 year old who called me a d&$khead on Xbox Live last night when playing Call of Duty.

Love,

Josh

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