A long time ago, shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, I wrote my solution to reduce these mass shootings. Recently I have been trying to find it, but it seems to have been lost in the shuffle. So, I will write it out again.

What we call “suburbs” is very new in the evolution of civilization. Humans have had plenty of time to adapt to cities and rural living, but we clearly have not adapted to suburban living. This is reflected in these mass shootings, which occur predominantly in suburban communities. Suburban communities are the perfect environment for a person to become dangerously isolated. Interestingly, much more so than rural environments. The difference, by my experience, is that our brain can understand loneliness when we are in rural areas, but has trouble coping with loneliness in suburban areas. Feeling lonely when no people are around is much easier to cope with. Within a community, people will blame other people for their isolation instead of putting the work into making and maintaining friendships. Thus, to help suburban communities adapt in a healthy positive direction I would make a law intended to nurture suburbanites to be more openly social.

It is very simple, anyone over the age of eighteen would be required to be registered and attend a social group that meets in person regularly through their towns Park and Recreation Department. The groups would need to be open to the public and not political or hate based. The group could be a sport,  hobby, or any interest at all. Seniors could satisfy the requirement by being a member and attending their local senior center. Anyone not registered, or anyone registered but not attending, would receive a visit by a social worker to see what the situation is and begin to develop a solution.

Not only would this get the people who are isolated out interacting with people, but it would build a sense of community. A sense of community that would include the parents of the young people who are becoming dangerously isolated. As it is important to know that everything is connected, and children are heavily influenced by their environment. It is important to consider the long term and nurture a culture of social interaction.

A long time ago, before industry and electricity, when life was very hard, people were very strict about everyone going to church on Sunday. Anyone who did not go was punished. I don’t know for sure, but I would argue that this was, in large part, a result of the awareness of how dangerous isolated people could be to a community; a community of people that needed each other to survive. Forcing people to go to church was less about praising God and more about their own survival. Times are different today. We are no longer an agrarian society and there are way too many people for the simple single church solution to have an impact. Nonetheless, something needs to be done.