As a 19-year-old who has grown up in a post 9/11 era, I have seen the photos of children affected by war. I have seen their faces covered in blood and debris plastered on the television screen and on the newspapers. But, they always disappear and we got back to listing death tolls by harsh numbers and percentages. We pretend that we do not know what is going on overseas, and move on with our lives. We have presidential candidates saying they are going to "bomb the sh*t" out of other countries. Yet, do we comprehend how many innocents live are being taken? Yes, we do need to protect national security and protect the brave troops who are overseas trying to bring peace. But, somewhere in modern warfare, we have forgotten about protecting the innocent. We now can push a button or set a computer to launch an airstrike. We need to let that sink in for a moment, that it can take a matter of seconds to launch one of these strikes. A decision that can be made in a matter of seconds can kill hundreds and thousands of people. Destroying homes that families live in, cook dinner in and have photos displayed around their home. We in the United States have witnessed multiple acts of terror, but overseas they have become accustomed to airstrikes. Parents and children rest their heads and close their eyes, not knowing whether their home will be standing the next day.
It is safe to assume that every nation on this planet has a terrorist in them, it sadly has become a reality. But, the nations like Syria and Palestine deals with resistant within the country as well. Rebels and the government fight each other with civilian being the collateral damage. Yet, we are turning a blind eye to these situations because they do not concern us. We need to find a way to create peace amongst our world because we are killing the future. The children, they are the future of this world, and we keep bombing them. Whether it be their government, the rebels, or a foreign government, we keep bombing them. We are detrimentally destroying our future, by justifying that killing one person outweighs the deaths of 100 innocent people. The United States saw outrage when a Cincinnati zoo shot Harambe, immortalizing him by making memes and petitions. Yet, who is going to keep Omran Daqneesh's photo alive on the web and in our brains. When the photos of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi first made the news, the world called for change. Yet, as quickly as the photo of the young Syrian boy's body hit the news, they disappeared.
What disturbs me is that all one has to do is google Syrian boy or girl to see the photos of these kids. Kids who are innocent lives, covered in blood, missing limbs, and mostly parent-less after attacks. We need to not forget about Omran Daqneesh or any other child fallen victim to violence. We need to protect our children from danger and bring them up in a world where they feel safe. Solutions need to be made without using an airstrike or a bullet, instead, we need to use our words. We are capable of such magnificent things, and we can not forget that. Every person on this planet can make a change, and we need to protect the generations that are responsible for the future.
