I haven’t been feeling well the last few days, ever since tragedy struck the once-unknown city of Newtown.

In my mind’s eye, I can still see the Image staff and myself crowded around the television, watching in shock and horror as the news of the shooting unfolded.

I felt like I was going to vomit. I have a sister at Pond Elementary, and the thought of something like this happening here made me terrified.

Throughout the day, the shooting, which killed 20 innocent children and six adults, spread rapidly across the nation and even across the globe. News reports were constantly pouring in, each more terrible than the last.

The worst part of this was that it was the second shooting in a week. And it certainly wasn’t the first massacre this year. To top it all off, a man in China attacked elementary school children with a knife this very same day.

On my Facebook newsfeed, arguments broke out about gun control. Some strongly pushed for guns to be banned altogether, while others complained that the teachers killed should have had weapons to defend themselves with.

I’m not writing this to encourage supporters or haters of the second amendment, let alone discuss it. I just only want to point out that we have no idea how people truly are. Sure, they may say or do things in front of others, but we don’t know what they’re thinking about.

If you ask someone what’s on their mind, they may reply with one answer, but inside may be a completely different one. That’s what I think is one of the most terrifying traits of humans: we have the ability to lie.

What causes people to kill, to hurt innocent citizens? That’s a tough question. There are hundreds of theories, but at the end of the day, no one can answer with certainty. The only person who knows is the perpetrator themselves.

Are people really so senseless and sick that they would sink so low as to kill elementary school students, children who have barely begun to live, and scar countless others for the rest of their lives?

Those children will never experience another birthday, a school game, even a pop quiz. They will never know what it feels like to have a first kiss, to graduate, to get married, to have children of their own…

There is no reason for violence. It scares me to think that people can be like this inside. And from all the recent news stories of shootings, murders and other acts of terror, I’m starting to believe that there are more evil people than good.

I know that there are heroes and stories of good-hearted, chivalrous people out there, but I have yet to see more of them reported. Not a day goes by without a crime, attack, rape or murder report. It frightens me.

In the meantime, the world should stop quarreling over politics, war and petty things, and should instead pay respect to and remember the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary.

We should really make an effort to cherish what we have. We must love the ones who return it, remember everything good that has happened, and try harder to have a better future.

And at the rate we’re going, I’m nervous to face it.