Today is Jan. 24, 2024. We are 24 days into the new year.
It’s been 24 days and 25 mass shootings.
There have been 25 mass shootings and 50 lives taken.
We have seen 25 mass shootings and 77 people injured, but new year, new us, right?
One of these mass shootings was a school shooting. Innocent lives are constantly being taken, and still, nothing is being done about it. Over 6,000 children and teenagers were shot last year. Kids the same age as us high schoolers, and even younger, are losing their lives over things they cannot control.
Last year was the second worst year on record for mass shootings; around 650 mass shootings took place, leaving hundreds dead. This country was founded on a “we, the people” ideology, yet as the people of this nation, we aren’t doing all we can.
However, those are not the only lives lost.
25,000.
Twenty-five thousand.
The Gaza death toll has surpassed 25,000 people; that’s one out of every 100 people in Gaza and one percent of the pre-war population who have been wiped out. Meanwhile, the death toll in Israel since Oct. 7, 2023 stands at 1,139 people.
In the three and a half months, 26,629 people have died due to the ongoing “war.”
There are close to 25,000 children in Gaza who have now become orphans due to the ongoing bombings and deaths. Gaza hospitals are being directly targeted, putting hundreds of lives in continuous danger. A “war” between two governments is being taken out on innocent civilians in both countries. Kids who aren’t even old enough to speak, let alone have a stance in this “war” are dying because of it.
A UN expert announced that Gaza might be in a famine and that two major hospitals are currently under attack. A mother and her three adult daughters were shot and killed in the comfort of their own home on Jan. 21, 2024. I learned about these by taking matters into my own hands and researching, yet I knew Taylor Swift was at the Kansas City Chiefs game that took place on Jan. 21, 2024, seconds after opening social media. Just because this devastating news might not be broadcast everywhere does not mean it is not happening.
To us, these are just numbers we see go up on a daily basis, but, in reality, these are lives. There are lives that are constantly being lost, families that are constantly losing their loved ones and parents that are constantly losing their own children.
There are armed conflicts going around all over the world. Not everyone has the luxury of waking up and going to school, knowing they’ll probably make it home that day. The Middle East and North Africa have over 45 armed conflicts, Africa has over 35, Asia has 21, Europe has seven and Latin America has six.
You would think one life lost would be enough for people to want change to the extent where they’d do something about it, but in just 24 days, 50 people have died just due to mass shootings. Every year, society talks about how the next will be better, how it’ll be “different,” but the only thing that’s different is the number of people dying.
As a community, we have the power to start change. As a nation, we have the power to save lives. “We the people” need to live and fight for the people that die, daily.
