A lot has happened over the past few weeks in our country, specifically surrounding the killing of innocent people.

First with the shooting at the three spas, killing 10 people, eight of whom were Asian, and secondly, the mass shooting in Boulder, Colo., killing 10 people. These were devastating events bringing up issues around Asian Hate, hate crimes, gun violence, gun control and mental health. Although these events did not take place on our homefront, they still affect us.

Growing up as a teen, it is often assumed, and sometimes true, teens adopt the political ideologies of their parents. But, we are also individual thinkers, capable of forming and articulating our own opinions and beliefs.

This has become evident through class discussions and debates; yes, they can become tense at times with more controversial topics being debated, but these moments show our individuality and emphasize the importance of discussion.

We learn from the school curriculum, different sources of media and from each other.

We do not know everything and are frequently reminded our brains are still developing, but we’re growing and learning.

Having these difficult, and often uncomfortable, conversations brings social progress and individual reforms. Hearing the opinions and perspectives of others opens your own and helps one better understand a topic and those around them.

The importance of this dialogue holds true whether you are a teenager or an adult. In short, continue to have the challenging conversations – with respectful decorum – whether that be in your home or in a social setting.

No matter what your political beliefs are the recent acts of hate and blatant murder show the brokenness within our country and are completely unacceptable.

During a class discussion, a conversation about momentary activism arose. When such injustice takes place, people rise up and raise awareness, trying to support a cause. However, later this fire dies out as people forget about these issues and continue to move on as it does not directly affect them. This narrative needs to change.

Whether it be on a local or national level, mental health stigmas need to be broken so that people can seek the help they need, tolerance and diversity needs to rise and something must be done about gun violence. If a mass shooting in a grocery store can happen in Boulder, Colo., it can happen in Salisbury too. No one or place is an exception.

So, students are doing what they do best: heading to social media to speak out, posting infographics, videos, pictures and stories to show their support for justice, equality, anti-racism and gun control.

By educating themselves on these issues, they are able to have these conversations on social media, in their homes and with friends in the lunchroom and during Falcon period.

This goes beyond the classroom and grades. This is about students taking action to change a country they will most likely live in for the rest of their lives. This is about students fighting for causes they believe in.

We are trying to continue to raise awareness and make a difference.

So, what will you do?