We are becoming a desensitized society.

You hear and read about stories about someone’s death every day.

You’d think that because not-so-natural death is so rampant today, there would be a powerful nationwide, or maybe even a worldwide, movement against something that is sadly becoming commonplace.

Although there are groups out there trying to make the world a better place, most people have simply accepted and ignored what is happening to our society.

We are desensitized to violence.

Last week, a seemingly normal teenager in Mississippi went on a shooting spree in his high school and stabbed his mother after his girlfriend broke up with him.

While going door-to-door selling candy and wrapping paper for the PTA in his neighborhood, an 11-year old New Jersey boy was sexually assaulted and strangled by a 15-year old boy.

Do you remember the toddler who was murdered by two elementary school children in England a few years back? Outrage rang around the world, especially in the United Kingdom.

Children face the horrors of homelessness, abuse, hunger and persecution not only in the United States, but around the world.

What has this world come to? Are we slowly, or maybe quickly, deciding the human fate?

People from all walks of life have talked about the end of the world, whether it will come and if it does, when it will be.

But at the pace we are going, it seems there will be an end, and it will be a lot sooner than expected.

You’ve heard people abhor violence. But it seems nobody is trying to change our current course.

We’d all like to see our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up, but seriously, what kind of world will they live in? It seems as if things are pretty bad right now. You might not think it seems like violence touches your life because you are in the innocent, serene and pleasant state of Iowa. Guess again.

An act of violence occurred last year at Veishea when Uri Sellers was murdered. You may want to detach yourself from the incident, saying it doesn’t affect your life, but it does. The murder happened in our own backyard, on a street we all have walked or driven down.

We must stop trying to break away from these bad things and do something about them.

This all may sound utopian, but, if you think about it, we have the power to make a mark on the future.

If you think about it, where did all of the children in the above examples learned about violence? And where did they learn violence is a bad thing?

It could be said that some of these violent children have behavioral disorders, but we must realize parents and society play a role in educating. Today, children learn about violence, but they don’t necessarily learn it is bad. They see killing everyday, if not in their own neighborhoods, then through the media in other children’s neighborhoods around the world.

It is good to honestly tell and show people what is happening around the world, whether it be violent or not. That is the hard truth that all of us must face.

However, we must take the responsibility of educating our children that the hard truth doesn’t always have to be the same. We can change things.

It saddens me to hear about children killing children. Although I am used to hearing about terrifying acts, I still cringe when I think of what has happened. I cringe when I hear about atrocities of the past, such as slavery, children in sweat shops and the like.

If you think about it, time has passed, but we haven’t necessarily progressed. These atrocities still happen, either in different parts of the world or in different forms.

The atrocities of the present scare me. My littlest sister is about the same age as the boy who was killed in New Jersey. I cannot imagine that happening to her; she is too innocent.

I fear the future and hope my children won’t grow up in a vicious world. I cringe, hoping I can teach my children what is right and what is wrong.

As college students, most of us don’t have children yet, but we have the power to make sure violence doesn’t touch our future children.

The world is a scary place. It doesn’t need to be scarier for our children. That is, if our world lasts.

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Erin Payne is a senior in journalism and mass communication and political science from Rock Rapids. She is the opinion editor of the Daily.