Do you feel safe in America? Truly safe?

Does the parochial setting of the Lehigh Valley provide you, your family and your friends with the necessary safeguards to ensure your safety and well-being?

Last week, Liberty High School in Bethlehem was locked down due to a 911 call regarding three armed men who allegedly entered the school. The incident hit home for many living in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley.

Fortunately, Liberty administration and staff wasted no time springing into action.

Superintendent Joseph Roy took the helm and made the necessary decisions to ensure the incident would not mushroom into a more serious event.

Shortly after receiving the call, the Bethlehem Police Department was dispatched, fanning out throughout the school campus, searching all students for possible weapons.

Events like these –in our public schools –cause one to question his or her own personal safety and the safety of those they love.

It would seem, over the course of the past six to seven years, all forms of violence – particularly violence involving guns – has dramatically increased in America.

Shootings on military bases such as Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. last year, Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on March 24, and, most recently again at Fort Hood, are cause for concern,

Additionally, gun violence has occurred in our public school systems across the nation in places such as Newtown, Conn., Cincinnati, Ohio, Sparks, Nev. and Pittsburgh, here in Pennsylvania, to name a just few.

When will the violence end? Are there systematic causes compelling a person to commit violent acts against others and society?

According to Drexel University's Center for the Prevention of School-Aged Violence, children are not born into violence, but rather develop violent tendencies due to their home environment, feelings of depression, stress and anxiety, easy access to weapons, media accounts, movies and shows glorifying violence, the influence of peers, learning difficulties and health problems, lack of guidance and attention seeking.

It's paramount, in order to quell the need and desire for violence, we as parents and adults reach the youth of our communities as soon as possible and steer them away from the idea aggression, force and violence solves life's problems.

It's also important our public policymakers, elected officials and community leaders develop solid and fair legislation to ensure guns do not carelessly fall into the hands of young people.

Violent acts beget more violence; more rage and more hatred.

In many ways, violence acts like a cancer, eating away at the core of our families, school systems, work places and public places.

While violence may lead to frantic decisions by some to arm and defend themselves against others who they perceive to be a threat, we should also not forget to make provisions to ensure our own safety in instances where we reasonably believe our life or the lives of our family and friends are in danger.

Is this how we want to live? Spending each day anticipating someone will harm us, our family or friends?

Let's begin in our homes, work places and schools to combat man's natural desire for violence with patience, understanding and love for one another and ourselves.

America, for its endless technological advances and exceptional educational system, should be at the forefront worldwide in advocating for and practicing tolerance and peace.

Rather than pick up a weapon to resolve differences in opinions, consider the option that love and understanding will solve personal differences.

Mark Reccek

editorial assistant

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press