Aaron Stark

One day, I was on YouTube and scrolling through videos of every school shooting that has happened in the United States because I am a researcher. I like to find about things. It was one video that made me pause and this video was titled: I Was Almost A School Shooter so I clicked on it and watched the entire TED TALK from beginning to end. A heavy man wearing glasses, a button-down shirt, a bald head and a beard stood in front an audience and shared his story about his downfall as a teenager and how it would’ve turned him into a statistic. This isn’t something that you would admit to the entire world.

You would keep something like this buried. He could’ve went on with his life and never bring it up but I’m going to assume that he couldn’t lie anymore and make it seem like he was strong enough to get through the tragedy that he was going through at a young age but he almost didn’t. This man had the courage to admit as a teenage boy he had violent and dark thoughts about taking his pain out on others and making a plan to accomplish that goal and that really scares me. You should never take out your pain on those who don’t deserve it and you shouldn’t never take someone’s life because you are not happy with yours, but I can not deny his feelings of anger because he had every right to feel that emotion.

He spoke about things that were happening in his home and school life. In his mind, why do I have to endure mistreatment in both places? I know three people in my life who were bullied: my little sister, my friend in middle school, and my dad. People must understand certain things about bullies. Bullies pick and choose their targets. They don’t just go for anybody. Bullying is abuse whether it is verbal or physical. The biggest bullies are the ones that are lying in bed with you and sitting at the dinner table with you.

Bullies are abusers, period. His parents are so disgusting and not to my surprise: they weren’t held accountable, no responsibility and no repercussions. It’s okay for these parents to do the worst possible things to their children and at the end, it’s a mistake and it’s all about forgiving. Heck no! It’s neglect, abuse and a poor excuse of parenting.

I’m going to be honest with you: I hated my middle school and high school. I was ready for those years to be up. I was so sick and tired of them. They have done so much crap on those school grounds and got away with it. Others have saw the crap and didn’t do anything to stop it.

They didn’t step in; they didn’t say no and they didn’t try to show some confidence. Bullies, bystanders, and school shooters are all cowards not just the school shooters. Bullies are cowards because they believe that you make someone feel like are nothing, they can feel like they are something. Bystanders are cowards because they feel like standing for what is right and putting an end to the wrong will cause them to suffer just liked the bullied. School shooters are cowards because they can’t stand up for themselves, they can’t fight back aganist those who have wronged them and they don’t know how to stand alone. (In some cases)

Everyone has their definition of what coward and that is how I see it. Yes, school shootings are the deadliest reality of America but there is also another reality: Mistreating people because of what they look like, dress like and talk like. It shows that society has not changed. People are still doing the same things. That’s why I believe that people are not understanding the span of time for a school shooting to occur.

School shooters are like roaches and virus. It’s like you can’t get rid of them. They grow and spread even more. I guess I’m only one that heard the state that Aaron said: Colorado. He spoke of his story dating back to 1996.

There was a school shooting that happened in 1999. That was in three years. It took that one friend to save him from becoming like the rest. That is why I take mental health seriously when it comes to youth because I feel like society doesn’t and I stand by that statement. I feel like certain feelings are invalidated when it comes to our community.

You don’t know what is going on in someone’s life whether old or young and you don’t know what goes on in someone’s mind. That’s why I don’t treat people any kind of way because sometimes I know how the human mind works. I just turned twenty years old about eleven days ago. I don’t even feel like I’m twenty because my body and height. I still feel like I am younger than that because it is a part of growing up.

Imagine if he went through with his plan and then boom, I think you guys should know exactly what comes next, but you know, these are my thoughts on this man’s heartbreaking story.