Read the following information. Mull it around in your brain. Talk with your friends about the content and possible reason for the substantial increase in school violence nationally and become angry. Are guns the problem, video games, the increase in divorce rates, the school system or the lack of God in our society? Can the increase in gun violence in our schools be a reflection of the generation on children we are raising or a result of the political unrest in our country?

Next week I will offer ideas, research and thoughts on this not-so-recent phenomenon but this week I wish you to think. Is this the society you wish to live in? Is this OK with you? Is there anything you can do about this sad but real issue in our community? This week read and think. Next week we will work together to solve this societal atrocity.

Jan. 9, 2014, in Jackson, Tennessee. A student is charged with bringing a gun to school at Liberty Technology Magnet High School and shooting a fellow classmate in the thigh. The incident occurs outside the front of the school.

Jan. 13, 2014, in New Haven, Connecticut. A 14-year-old boy is shot outside a basketball game at the Hillhouse High School athletic facility, suffering wounds in his hand and leg.

Jan. 14, 2014, in Roswell, New Mexico. Two people are shot and wounded inside the gymnasium of Berrendo Middle School, around 8:10 am. An 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl are airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, in critical condition. The 12-year-old suspected shooter, Mason Campbell, a seventh-grade student, is apprehended at the scene after he is talked down by a staff member and drops the shotgun.

A staff member receives minor injuries. Campbell is facing charges of three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of confinement in a juvenile detention facility until he is 21 years old.

Jan. 17, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A student allegedly shoots two students in the gymnasium at Delaware Valley Charter School. Both victims, a male and a female, are shot in the arm. They are taken to a nearby hospital and are in stable condition, police say. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says at a news conference that the shooter ran out of the school after the shooting but was taken into custody near his home. 17-year-old Raisheem Rochwell is arrested and charged as an adult for aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and firearms offenses.

Jan. 20, 2014, in Chester, Pennsylvania. One person is shot and critically injured at Widener University in Chester. The incident occurs around 10 p.m. outside the university sports complex and leads to an eight-hour university lockdown. The suspect is not immediately found.

Jan. 21, 2014, in West Lafayette, Indiana. A 21-year-old student, Andrew Boldt, is shot and killed in a classroom building on the campus of Purdue University. A suspect, 24-year-old student Cody Cousins, is arrested and charged with murder.

Jan. 24, 2014, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. A 20-year-old student is shot and killed at South Carolina State University. A 19-year-old is arrested and charged with murder.

Jan. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. A man is shot and killed at Los Angeles Valley College. Two suspects are arrested in the fatal shooting.

Jan. 27, 2014, in Carbondale, Illinois. A group of students at Rebound High School get in an argument in the school's parking lot. One student pulls out a gun and shoots another student in the ensuing altercation. An 18-year-old suspect is facing charges of attempted murder.

Jan. 28, 2014, in Honolulu, Hawaii. A 17-year-old boy is shot in the wrist after attacking police officers with a kitchen knife at President Theodore Roosevelt High School. The 17-year-old is charged with attempted murder.

Jan. 28, 2014, in Nashville, Tennessee. One student is shot in the leg in an apparent altercation over a gambling debt at Tennessee State University. The incident occurs during the 2014 State of the Union address where President Obama mentions the importance of gun safety.

Jan. 30, 2014, in Palm Bay, Florida. Three students are fighting in a parking lot of Eastern Florida State College and one pulls out a gun and shoots another student. All three students claimed self-defense.

Jan. 31, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. After a basketball game at North High School, there is gunfire in a parking lot of the school. Six males in a black jeep commit the shooting. A 15-year-old girl is injured by a ricocheting bullet. While officers are gaining control of the area, teachers on the scene led students into the school building for safety.

Feb. 8, 2014, in Bend, Oregon. A 17-year-old student, Zachary Leyes, fatally shoots himself in a classroom at Bend High School. No other students or faculty were injured.

Feb. 10, 2014, in Salisbury, North Carolina. A 16-year-old student is shot in the stomach on the campus of Salisbury High School during a dispute in the school gym. A 17-year-old suspect is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, possession of a firearm on school property and discharging a weapon on school property.

Feb. 10, 2014, in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Five shots are fired in the parking lot of Charles F. Brush High School, including one which hits an unoccupied police car. No one is reported to be injured, though a school basketball game is going on at the time.

Feb. 21, 2014, in San Jose, California. A man wielding a large knife is shot and killed by officers from the San Jose State University police department, across from the university campus. Responding officers first try to Taser the man, but are ineffective.

Feb. 22, 2014, in Augusta, Georgia. A shooting involving a campus police officer occurs at a Georgia Regents University dormitory complex. A male suspect enters a vehicle and nearly strikes an officer, who opens fire. The suspect is taken to Georgia Regents Medical Center with injuries that are not believed to be critical.

March 12, 2014, in Miami, Florida. An elementary school teacher is shot and killed outside The Academy of Knowledge Preschool. Police investigators believe the shooting stems from an argument the victim had with an unidentified man at a house close to the preschool. The suspect takes off and remains at large.

March 25, 2014, in College Park, Georgia. An argument between students leads to shots being fired in a Benjamin Banneker High School parking lot during the afternoon. Investigators believe multiple people are present when shots are fired, but it was not known how many could face charges for the incident. No one is injured in the shooting.

April 9, 2014, in Greenville, North Carolina. Just after the lunch hour, at D. H. Conley High School, a car drives past the school and witnesses say an occupant reaches out a car window and fires shots in the direction of the school. This all occurs on Worthington and Tull roads, which are right in front of the school. No one is injured.

April 11, 2014, in Detroit, Michigan. After a Friday evening student awards ceremony called "Grammy Night," four men who are affiliated with a gang fire into a crowd in the parking lot of East English Village Preparatory Academy; one 19-year-old teen, Darryl Smith, is fatally shot in the head. Smith is not a student at the academy.

April 21, 2014, in Griffith, Indiana. A man fatally shoots his estranged wife in the parking lot of Saint Mary School in northwestern Indiana and later kills himself at his home after a police officer confronts him.

May 4, 2014, in Augusta, Georgia. Two men fire shots inside a dormitory at Paine College on Sunday, injuring one student in the head. Neither of the suspects are students at the college.

May 5, 2014, in Augusta, Georgia. An active shooter situation is reported at Paine College on Monday with one person reported to be shot. The suspect is apparently apprehended and in custody. It is the second shooting incident to occur at the college campus in two days.

May 8, 2014, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. A person was shot on a student parking lot roof at Georgia Gwinnett College, receiving an injury. The specific cause has not been identified.

May 14, 2014, in Richmond, California. A 14-year-old student is injured during a drive-by shooting in front of John F. Kennedy High School at 8:30 a.m. He is shot as he is running toward the school campus after a fight took place. The student suffered a serious but stable injury to his leg. Police are searching for a suspect.

May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California. 22-year-old Elliot Rodger went on a stabbing and shooting rampage just outside the main campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Some campus buildings are within the route of the shootings. The spree began when Rodger stabbed three men to death in his apartment. Leaving the scene in his car, he drove to a sorority house, where he shoots four people outside, fatally wounding two female students. He drives to a nearby deli and shoots to death a male student who is inside. He then speeds through Isla Vista, shooting at bystanders and striking four people with his car. Rodger exchanges gunfire with police twice during the killing spree. The rampage ends when his car crashes into a parked vehicle and comes to a stop. Rodger commits suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

June 5, 2014, in Seattle, Washington. Three people are shot inside a hallway in Seattle Pacific University. One student dies. The gunman is tackled by a student as he is reloading his shotgun, and arrested at the scene. The suspected shooter is identified as 26-year-old Aaron Ybarra.

June 10, 2014, in Troutdale, Oregon. Around 8:30 a.m., shots are fired at Reynolds High School. 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman is killed, a physical education teacher is injured, and the gunman, 15-year-old Jared Padgett, exchanges gunfire with police officers and then commits suicide in a restroom stall.

Send comments or other suggestions to Bill Rutherford at bprutherford@hotmail.com or visit pensiveparenting.com.