What good can come out of a tragedy? Plenty. As parents and concerned citizens, it begins by making the right moves in our homes.

Evaluate our lifestyle and our home surroundings and see what we can do to make it safer for our children; monitor TV, video games and smart phones. There is so much garbage out there. Teach them kindness, understanding and respect for all.

If there are guns in the home, foster proper gun safety at home and at firing ranges. Evaluate who in your family can be trusted with the proper handling, cleaning and safe storage of any weapon. Teach proper hunting skills and the harvesting of wildlife as a food source, and not simply as killing for fun.

Also, provide instruction on how to safely handle not just guns but any lethal object: vehicles, alcohol, drugs, etc.

Let’s be realistic. We will never be able to eliminate all tragedies. But as individuals, let’s evaluate this terrible tragedy and see what we all can do to make our country a little safer for everyone.

Mark P. Gillotte

Columbia