It’s a 21st century genocide. Your children will read about it in their history textbooks. But it’s more than a mere remnant of the past. It’s happening, and it’s happening now. Hundreds of thousands of people have died, and the crisis continues. Yet, most students continue to be unaware of what is happening. This is Syria, this is real, and this is now.

“I know there was a refugee crisis, and that there’s still terror happening there. And I know that it’s because of a dictatorship,” Ali Meyer, sr., said.

Syria is in the midst of an intense civil war, one which has caused hundreds of thousands of people to become displaced within the country, refugees abroad, or even killed. The current leader of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad, has failed to to accomplish many long-promised reforms within the country, a fact which has caused turmoil.

Protests began to climb on a massive scale in early 2011, and by April the protests had turned into full-scale armed rebellion. The difficult part though is that, as time went on and the rebellion grew, many jihadists joined the fight. In need of supplies and aid, the revolutionaries in Syria had no choice but to accept the outside help.

The situation has only gotten worse as time passes. Now, there is killing at a massive scale on both sides of the war. One of the more notable places of conflict is the Syrian city of Aleppo, a once bustling commercial center now turned to ruin by bombings, raids, and violence. Civilian casualties are at incredibly high rates, and only recently were buses sent in to attempt evacuation of the remaining thousands of individuals still trapped in the city among the fighting.

Yet, many high school students know nothing about this huge scale conflict going on halfway across the world, despite its long-run presence and massive scale of influence, from the worries of what will happen if the rebels win and the Islamic State takes over Syria to the refugee crisis happening in Europe and how it impacts us.

“We get so wrapped up in something Donald [Trump] tweeted, or a vague political proposal that we’ve failed to take a step back and look directly at news sources and worldwide events that are just as concerning and important,” Claire Pardubsky, sr., said.

This lack of infirmity in our student populations can be detrimental to our maturation, as many students prepare to leave the walls of school behind and enter the real world.

“We definitely should be more informed. Opening discussions about tragedies like Aleppo is a step in the right direction,” Claire Pardubsky, sr., said.