Are You Listening?

I just read an article on Yahoo about a high school shooting that happened in Ohio. Five students were shot. Four of them were injured but one of the students have already died. The shooter was a Junior. They described him as quiet and goth. He had tweeted that he was going to bring a gun to school the next day. He posted that on the Internet. In plain sight. Where people could read it. And react to it. The problem?

  NO ONE TOOK HIM SERIOUSLY. 

This entire tragedy could have been prevented. Clearly, this boy was crying out for help. No one had listened to him. No one responded to him. So, he made them listen. In a horrible way. Other people paid the price. A high school student died because of other people's silence. The shooter is lost too. This is nothing but a tragedy.

What if someone had tried talking to him? It may have made a difference. Maybe he wouldn't have gone to such drastic measures to get someone to listen to him. Someone would not have died. All it would have taken was for someone to reach out to this quiet kid. To have compassion and an open ear. But no one did. And probably because they thought this goth kid was weird or not worth their time. Oh how wrong they were.

Every human being is worth something. I don't care if you think they're weird or annoying or funny looking. Every single person has a voice that needs to be heard by someone else. There are so many people around you crying out for help. So many people who are broken and doing anything to let others know that they need help and love. They need to be loved. They shouldn't be overlooked for any reason. We need to take action. Stop and look around you. Are you listening?