Teacher of the year's school violence post goes viral after mass shooting

EUSTIS, Fla. – The teacher of the year at a Lake County school shared her thoughts about a mass shooting in South Florida in a Facebook post that has been shared more than 250,000 times as of Friday morning.

Kelly Guthrie Raley, who teaches at Eustis Middle and was named the school's teacher of the year earlier this month, made the post after 17 people were shot and killed Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Raley began her post by saying, "Okay, I’ll be the bad guy and say what no one else is brave enough to say, but wants to say. I’ll take all the criticism and attacks from everyone because you know what? I’m a TEACHER. I live this life daily. And I wouldn’t do anything else! But I also know daily I could end up in an active shooter situation."

Raley then gave the reasons why she thinks school shootings continue to occur.

"Until we, as a country, are willing to get serious and talk about mental health issues, lack of available care for the mental health issues, lack of discipline in the home, horrendous lack of parental support when the schools are trying to control horrible behavior at school (oh no! Not MY KID. What did YOU do to cause my kid to react that way?), lack of moral values, and yes, I’ll say it -- violent video games that take away all sensitivity to ANY compassion for others’ lives, as well as reality TV that makes it commonplace for people to constantly scream up in each others’ faces and not value any other person but themselves, we will have a gun problem in school. Our kids don’t understand the permanency of death anymore!!!"

Raley went on to say that she grew up with guns.

[READ ENTIRE FACEBOOK POST BELOW]

"But you know what? My parents NEVER supported any bad behavior from me. I was terrified of doing something bad at school, as I would have not had a life until I corrected the problem and straightened my ass out. My parents invaded my life. They knew where I was ALL the time. They made me have a curfew. They made me wake them up when I got home. They made me respect their rules. They had full control of their house, and at any time could and would go through every inch of my bedroom, backpack, pockets, anything! Parents: it’s time to STEP UP! Be the parent that actually gives a crap! Be the annoying mom that pries and knows what your kid is doing. STOP being their friend. They have enough 'friends' at school. Be their parent. Being the 'cool mom' means not a damn thing when either your kid is dead or your kid kills other people because they were allowed to have their space and privacy in YOUR HOME ... I was taught respect for human life, compassion, rules, common decency, and most of all, I was taught that until I moved out, my life and bedroom wasn’t mine...it was theirs. And they were going to know what was happening because they loved me and wanted the best for me."

Raley said her post wasn't about gun control.

"This was me, loving the crap out of people and wanting the best for them. This was about my school babies and knowing that God created each one for greatness, and just wanting them to reach their futures."

Raley ended her post by asking, "When are we going to take our own responsibility seriously?"