Yesterday was a horrific day for me and for my country. Yesterday an unprecedented horror took place in Belgrade, the likes of which we have never witnessed before.
A 13 year old student in Belgrade opened fire in his school, killing 9 people - 8 students (some classmates of his) and a security guard. At least 7 more have been injured, including a professor of his.
Officials have deemed the attack premeditated as they found sketches in the house of the boy in which the whole thing was planned, the sketched out attack was put up on crumpled up pieces of paper which were even displayed on a press conference yesterday afternoon.
The boy and both of his parents have been arrested. The firearms with which the attack took place were in the property of his father, a very famous doctor in Belgrade. The father even took his boy to shooting ranges, teaching him how to shoot.
The question that I have in my mind is very simple: how the hell did it come to this?
Obviously, speculations have been plenty during the aftermath, it was suggested that the boy was a very quiet and down-to-earth boy, with exemplary grades - but that he was a victim of bullying from his classmates.
How the hell did it come to this?
How could we as society fail the youth so freaking hard?
Instead of filling the youth hearts with love, compassion, devotion, interesting topics to talk about - we put pressure on the grades that they receive in school and forcefully push them to 'just be better, just be the best out there, always receive A's in school'. And all of that for what?
It is unbeliveably soul-crushing that this happened to a family of doctors. DOCTORS. How the hell could they not sense that something went terribly wrong in the growing up process of their kid?
Why do we feel the urge that our kids are our trophies and we need to parade their 'success' in front of everyone, just to satisfy our own ego? Does that pursuit of 'my kid is better than yours, let's compare their grades' really knows no bounds? Anxiety, depression, stress. Three factors that are clearly polluting today's youth.
I feel so disturbed knowing that this took place in my city. Among my people.
In reality, I am writing today's post heartbroken, furious, soul-crushed - and I wanna end it with a plea.
To all of the parents out there. And to the ones aspiring to be parents.
TALK with your kids. Spend time with them. Ask them how they are feeling. Try checking who they are spending their time with. Monitor their social media activity. If there are any red flags, feel free to reach out to professionals to help you out. Parenting is hard. The hardest job out there. And sadly enough, it is a job that does not come with education. Anyone can be a parent - but that does not mean that parenting should be taken for granted. On the contrary, parenting is one hell of a difficult job.
I am sending all of my prayers to the families that lost their loved ones yesterday. Those kids went to school thinking it was just another Wednesday in which they would be seeing their classmates, studying and having fun along the way - but they will never come back from school.
It is difficult to imagine such things occuring, let alone witnessing it in your own city. I hope that measures will be taken to make sure that such a thing NEVER happens again. I am really sad and touched - and beyond words.
May the souls of the deceased rest in peace. And may God help us all. 🕊️💔