Because We Do Not Understand Violence

One of the most important lessons I learned from my grandfather was the depth and breadth of nonviolence. He helped me see that all of us, in some way, act violently—and that we need a fundamental shift in how we think and behave. Most people don’t recognize their own violent tendencies, not because they’re cruel, but because they don’t truly understand what violence is.

Children don’t know what violence looks like. They don’t realize that words can wound just as deeply as actions. Often, it’s because their fathers or grandfathers didn’t know either—or lived in ways that normalized it. Kids imitate what they see. They act without guilt, without a sense of responsibility.

And that’s on us. The adults.