Killed, injured, hurt, as well as protest, riot and rebels are words in headlines that have unfortunately been in the news more recently. 

Within the last week, people around the U.S. have taken to the streets to protest a Ferguson, Missouri grand jury’s decision to not indict police officer Darren Wilson for shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown. 

Last week in Cleveland, police shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and protests ensued. Student rebels in Hong Kong have bolstered their pro-democracy efforts against a central government they see as being against the rights of citizens. 

Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Greece have begun a hunger strike until they receive assistance from the economically unstable Greek government. 

Protests erupted in Cairo as citizens protested an Egyptian court’s decision to clear past leader Hosni Mubarak over killing protesters who were against his regime in 2011. 

While this doesn’t round out the protest news within the last week, we feel people are responding to hate they feel toward a specific person or government body with hate in the form of violence that doesn’t solve the real issues at hand. 

For example, rioters looted shops in Ferguson, set buildings on fire, and injured and killed civilians and other protesters, in an effort to show their emotional unrest with the grand jury’s decision.  While they created a spectacle and raised further awareness for the situation, positive action to address the real issues like police brutality and racism have not been seriously tackled yet. 

We believe that the world needs more productive ways to solve our problems, to solve the hate we have in the world today. Whether it’s public discourse or the creation of new legislation and programs, we need a positive way to channel our emotional energy to create change instead of unrest.

But more than anything, we believe that showing any form of compassion or empathy towards others is the best way we can stop this spread of hate. Putting one’s self in another’s shoes helps change your point of view on a conflict or issue. 

Applying peaceful principles on campus instead of directing hate toward our peers can solve problems and strengthen our campus community. We can be the change we want to see in the world.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the The Kent Stater editorial board.