Numb.

"I feel numb." is what a college student told me after I asked them about why there was no talk on campus after the Atlanta and Boulder shootings. I recognize that these students were born after Columbine in 1999 and some even after 9/11 in 2001. These students have grown up with active shooter drills in school. They have grown up seeing news story after news story about another mass shooting in a church, movie theater, mall, massage parlor and grocery store. This rising generation has seen so much trauma that they have become numb to hearing this news. There is also the idea that some of them have just stopped watching the news altogether.

I know as a millennial, I grew up watching the news at 5 or 6pm with my parents, but now my dad gets alerts on his phone from a trusted news source all day long. I spend way too much time on social media which is how I gather my news. I was taught in school though that you see a headline on social media, you cannot believe it is true unless it is on at least 3 other trusted websites. This idea of numbness is a result of so much trauma.

YES, TRAUMA. That is what this is. We, as Americans are afraid of this word. As the headlines come across after a mass shooting, it turns an eye to 'why' did this happen. There is where we search for someone or something to blame. A video game caused it to happen. Violent movies. Sex Addiction. Rhetoric around a certain race group caused it. Words from a politician caused it. These are all Band-Aids on a leaking water tower. They are not addressing the real issues.

After the shooting in Boulder, I looked at Twitter and realized that there was a certain religious group trending on the side bar. I did not even have to click on the word to understand why I am seeing this trend. We as a nation found our place to place the blame. Because the shooter was not from the majority group in the country.