Want mass shootings to stop? Don't take away guns. Find out what motivates these people to want to perform mass shootings and fix that. Find out why they feel so hurt in the first place and find a way for them to cope healthily. Teach them how to value themselves and love themselves in a healthy way.

Want abortions to stop? Don't just create legislation that bans it and removes helpful institutions like Planned Parenthood. Find out WHY people are getting into scenarios where they want to have an abortion in the first place and resolve that. Create a system where they won't be so reckless with their bodies, where men won't have any desire to rape women, where medicine has a strong chance of saving both baby and mother.

Want wars to end? Don't just create bigger guns and bombs. Find out why people initiate wars in the first place and remove that source of fear and hate. Teach love and compassion, maturity and understanding, instead of xenophobia and bigotry.

Want people to be healthy? Educate them how to be healthy from a young age and positively reinforce that over and over again until it sticks. That'll severely reduce the costs spent in health care in our culture. And speaking of cost, make healthy living options affordable for everyone; too many in our society who live on minimum wage cannot afford to eat all the healthy foods championed by nutritionists and fitness experts.

Want society as a whole to be more mature? Then quit rewarding stupidity. Quit watching reality shows featuring vapid individuals with petty problems blown out of proportion. Quit sending emails and posting statuses and tweets that feature YouTube videos of banality. Share information that matters, that makes people think critically about the world. Open a dialogue with someone over a complex issue you think is important--preferably with someone who holds an opposing viewpoint. Listen to what they have to say with an open yet critical and objective mind, and be kind about how you present your own argument in the process.

Want kids to grow up to be intelligent, productive, responsible, and compassionate? Then TEACH THESE THINGS. Teach them in a POSITIVE manner that rewards the behavior you want to see. Recognize how each child may need a different style of education because their minds learn in different ways. Don't stifle imagination or creativity; give funding to the arts, so they can see WHY we live. Don't suspend them from school for playing a game just because YOU'RE stupid enough to be afraid of imaginary weapons; take that game as an opportunity to teach them something--anything--that will add value to their life instead of punishing them just for being a kid and having the gall to dream more into the world than you can dare to see. Break that cycle so they won't turn into the same dull, depressed adults so many of us have become. Quit shutting them out and listen to what they have to say once in a while; you may be surprised at their insight, AND encouraging them to speak up for themselves and for others can help boost their own confidence so they don't grow up to be mindless drones with their heads down all the time.

When it comes to so many of our laws and policies, ours is a civilization of intervention, but if we want these problems to end, we have to look at PREvention. We have to look at the way we're raising our youth, shaping our culture's minds, and why we value what we value. Change incentive for the better. Get everyone motivated to do good things for the world. Don't be afraid to communicate. Don't be afraid to question the rule-makers, but don't be so arrogant that you close your ears to reason, no matter where it comes from. Dare to dream. Teach others how to value all the good and beauty in this world. And perhaps most of all, live as an embodiment of everything you can be as an individual and everything you think could benefit the world should others adapt your principals.