Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of a tragic, but all too common event in the city of Chicago—the shooting death of a child.

Specifically, it’s the anniversary of a 7-year old child named Dantrell Davis who was gunned down by a reputed gang leader near his home in the Cabrini-Green housing development while walking to school.

Davis quickly became a symbol for all child victims of rampant urban violence. Soon there was a loud cry from the Chicago media for an end to the violence. Some members of the media were also ashamed that the volume of deaths like Davis’ had brought them to treat these deaths matter of factly, just another inner-city kid getting shot.

The life of a child, or the life of an adult for that matter, is sacred. The media and society often forget that. Cynicism is an unfortunate consequence of this increasingly violent society but not an acceptable one. Dantrell Davis reminded us all of that.

While the guilt for Dantrell Davis’ death lies in the hands of the individual who shot him, we all have a responsibility to children like him.

The heart of the city of Chicago was broken by the tragedy. In fact, a stretch of Cleveland Avenue in Cabrini-Green was named in Davis’ honor.

The death even apparently touched the heart of the untouchables in Cabrini-Green themselves—the gang members. A citywide truce was called to end the killings. Things improved for awhile, but the killing is pretty much back to business as usual for gang members once again on the streets of Chicago.

The killing has obviously not stopped and children are still falling victim to stray bullets time and time again. It appears that Chicago’s eyes were once wide open when Davis was killed, but it won’t be too long before they close again. Chicago is certainly no exception when compared to any other major metropolitan area.

This anniversary brings about a number of thoughts for a number of people. Hopefully it will bring about thoughts for NIU students as well.

What can we do to prevent the tragedy of urban violence, the plague of neighborhood drug warlords, poverty and poor education? How can we provide relief? Can we deter the youth from entering a destructive gang lifestyle?

These are things that deserve much more attention than any of us choose to give them. Will we only read about them and mourn at times of tragedy or anniversaries of those tragedies?

These are problems college students should be thinking about as they prepare for the rest of their lives. Many of us will have children one day. What are we doing to create the kind of world we would like to bring a child into?

Many of us will soon be back in the Chicago area, or perhaps near another major city. It’s a guarantee that there will be children there that need our help. We should be looking for ways we can personally be of assistance to these children who trust us to provide a safe world for them.

How can we help the future generation? Tutors, counselors, nurses, doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers, journalists, police officers and many professionals and volunteers will be needed. There’s probably not a student at NIU who can’t, if he or she chooses to do so, help create a brighter future by touching the lives of these young people.

What are you willing to do?