It’s a scary and tough world for young people to grow up in. Yes, it’s true, bad things happened in every generation. But many of us never had to worry about participating in drills for potential school shooters. This phenomena is more prevalent in recent times.

I did some digging and was a bit surprised to learn that the first school shooting occurred on July 26, 1764. Four Lenape American Indians entered a schoolhouse near what is now Greencastle, PA and killed 9 or 10 children (reports vary), and 70-year-old schoolmaster Enoch Brown. The so-called Pontiac’s War or Pontiac's Rebellion, began because several Native American tribes were upset by the policies of the British.

Flash forward to last year (2018), when CNN reported there was an average of one school shooting every week in the US. The reasons for this awful statistic include the relatively easy access to guns in the US, a culture of violence in the media which some argue might inspire people to kill, mental health issues, copy cat acts and school bullying.

Kids have to learn to cope with the realities of school drills and the knowledge that gun violence can happen anywhere, at anytime.

It has been over a year since the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school. Tragically, 17 students and staff members were killed. Their deaths are permanent and so is the emotional toll on survivors.

Recently, two students from the Florida high school took their own lives, 16-year-old Calvin Desir and 2018 graduate Sydney Aiello, 19. Also taking their own life was Jeremy Richman, the parent of 6-year-old Avielle Richman, who died in the Sandy Hook massacre. Tragedy layering upon tragedy…

Their despair is understandable. 18 year old student Kai Koerber, who was on lockdown in the Music Hall of Margery Stoneman Douglas and survived the shootings, said that his life has been changed forever. Kai wanted to take action so he never has to see this kind of tragedy happen again.

Koerber started a nonprofit 'Societal Reform Corp.' “We need to put mental health on equal standing with gun control,” he said in a PEOPLE magazine interview. The Societal Reform group advocates to develop mental health initiatives in public schools, including non-traditional healing tools like yoga, mindfulness, and painting.

What a productive idea. Koerber said that he learned about mindfulness, aka meditation, from his own family experience. Studies show that people who study meditation and yoga significantly reduce their stress levels and improve emotions. Koerber wants his foundation to serve those touched by violence as he was, and also expand services to help those who feel they might be driven to commit violent acts. 

I believe holistic intervention should be funded in every school, not to mention imposing strict gun control in every state. Hats off to Kai Koerber, for offering shelter in a storm of violence.