by Katelin Murray ’15

Imagine a world where you hear the sound of gunshots more often than birds’ chirps. You wake up unsure of whether or not you will have power or running water. You walk down your block and are watched by snipers on the roofs. Your government spies on your internet and cell phone activity and will shut it off at random times. The airports are shut down and military checkpoints stop and search you everywhere you go. Your cousin was shot in the arm last week. Your neighbors buried their daughter last night. Your mother can’t afford the high prices of food anymore, so you go to bed hungry. You live in constant fear of your own neighbors and your own government. Put yourself in this position and you are only scraping the surface of what daily life is like for regular people in Syria.

Starting in March of 2011, unrest began in Syria.  The Syrian government, lead by its dictator, Bashar al-Assad, reacted harshly to peaceful street protests by its people against the corrupt government. Instead of trying to please protesters and issue reform, Assad ordered military attacks to crush the protesters. This sparked retaliation from rebel groups and lead to a full scale civil war which has caused thousands of deaths and total chaos within Syria. What started out as peaceful protests, inspired by Tunisia and other Arab countries who had succeeded in their own government reforms, morphed into a violent and brutal civil war which is still continuing to escalate.

Syria’s youth have been at the forefront of Syria’s civil war since the beginning. The first protests that led to the civil war were against the torture of young students who had put up graffiti that defied the government. Influenced by their modern education and growing social media, students and young people in Syria decided that change of rule and freedom were attainable goals. This passion makes them all the more active in the conflict, and unfortunately all the more prone to end up as casualties. Universities were popular places for protests which were often broken up by gunfire from Assad’s forces. In May, a peaceful protest including about 1,500 students at Aleppo University was violently put down, leaving 5 students dead and 200 in jail.Kids as young as 14 are often seen transporting weapons and supplies and even taking part in combat missions. High school kids like us are not only surrounded by the death and violence, but also encouraged to participate in it. The Human Rights Watch has recorded that at least 17 child soldiers have died and that many others have been seriously injured while fighting in the war.

To Americans like us who are not living in the conditions that Syrians are living in, Syria’s issues may be hard to relate to or understand. Still, Syria’s increasing tension bring the US closer to military intervention every day. If this occurs, our already fragile economy will be hurt by the necessary rise in military funding. Turmoil in Syria will effect our gas prices. Al Qaeda’s involvement could threaten our safety. So don’t brush Syria off as an issue that doesn’t matter to you. Sooner or later, the events in Syria are going to impact your life.