In the wake of the Valentine's Day school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, I can honestly say that I have very few words. The display of violence cannot be understated, nor can it be ignored. My heart goes out to each and every person affected by the shooting, but it brings up a much bigger question: how can we possibly expect this violence to end? From my point of view, it seems that our current society cannot go even a matter of months without the news displaying another mass shooting, another sickening display, and another call to action. But where does this leave us?

I'm not a politician, and I cannot say that I have the answers. However, I can provide a matter of display and show a number of school shootings that have taken place in America from 1998, the year I was born. Each victim had a life, a family, and who are we to disregard it all with debates that lead no where. If we don't act now, then when?

1. Westside Middle School on March 24, 1998 (17 deaths, 10 injuries)

On March 24, 1998, Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 13 and 11 respectively, went to Westside Middle School in Craighead County, Arkansas with guns stolen from Golden's grandfather's house. During the shooting, four girls and one teacher was killed, and ten others were wounded. The boys were arrested and charged under Arizona law. They were each released at age 21.

2. Thurston High School on May 21, 1998 (4 deaths, 25 injuries)

3. Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 (15 deaths, 24 injuries)

For Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, April 20, 1999 was the day that two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, approached their high school and killed 12 fellow students and a teacher. At the end of the shooting, the pair committed suicide, leaving another 20 students and one teacher injured with others wounded while trying to escape the school building.

4. Appalachian School of Law on January 16, 2002 (3 deaths, 3 injuries)

5. Red Lake High School on March 21, 2005 (10 deaths, 5 injuries)

Before he went into his former high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota on the morning of March 21, 2005, 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend. When he arrived at Red Lake High School, Weise shot and killed a security guard, one teacher, and five other students. When police arrived, Weise committed suicide.

6. West Nickel Mines School on October 2, 2006 (6 deaths, 5 injuries)

7. Virginia Tech on April 6, 2007 (33 deaths, 23 injuries)

On April 6, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, committed suicide after carrying out two separate shootings. During the two shootings inside a residence hall and an academic building, Cho killed five faculty members and 27 students. Another 17 victims were injured from his gunshots, and six from attempting to escape from a two-story window.

8. Northern Illinois University on February 14, 2008 (6 deaths, 21 injuries)

9. University of Alabama on February 12, 2010 (3 deaths, 3 injuries)

10. Chardon High School on February 27, 2012 (3 deaths, 3 injuries)

When students at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio, were eating breakfast, T.J. Lane entered and began shooting. Three students died from the shooting, and another three were wounded. Lane had been chased from the school following the shooting by the school's football coach and arrested by his car nearby.

11. Oikos University on April 2, 2012 (7 deaths, 3 injuries)

12. Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 (28 deaths, 2 injuries)

At Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza killed 20 children between the ages of six and seven on December 14, 2012. After killing his mother at home, Lanza drove to the elementary school where he shot the children as well as killing six faculty. After the shootings, Lanza shot himself in one of the classrooms.

13. Marysville Pilchuck High School on October 24, 2014 (5 deaths, 3 injuries)

14. Umpqua Community College on October 1, 2015 (10 deaths, 8 injuries)

Known as the deadliest mass-shooting in Oregon's history, the shootings on the UCC campus near Roseburg, Oregon claimed the lives of eight students and an assistant professor. The shooter, 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer committed suicide after he had been wounded during a shoot-out with police.

15. North Park Elementary School on April 10, 2017 (3 deaths, 1 injury)

16. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018 (17 deaths, 14 injuries)

The most recent on this list, on February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz was arrested after he killed 14 students and three staff members at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School. Cruz, 19, had been arrested shortly after the shooting, and confessed.

While this is only a fraction of the number of shootings in America, just a mere percentage of the school shootings alone, I think it is clear that action needs to be taken. Students are targeted in a place where they should be safe. However, the issue is beyond the classroom but includes concerts, running paths, and movie theaters. If America can ever claim to be the home of the free, shouldn't it also be safe?