Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Photo UNRWA
by Cosimo GrazianiThe endless slaughter of children killed while at school worsens year after year. In Africa, in the heart of Europe, in the Middle East, which is marked by the tragedy in Gaza, and in the United States, where there are now dozens of “Columbine High Schools” (the scene of the 1999 massacre that marked the collective memory at the time, ed.).The data published by the United Nations speak for themselves: In 2024, there were more than 41,000 attacks on students. Relatively speaking, this represents a 44 percent increase compared to the previous year. In 2025, there were incidents in Tampere, Finland, in May; in Graz, Austria, in June; in Nantes, France, in April; in Texas, on April 15 in Dallas, and on June 10 in Uvalde (where 19 children were the victims alone). In Minneapolis, more children were killed at a Catholic school on August 27.Global media reports on this phenomenon when it affects wealthy countries, but in reality, it is even more devastating and widespread in remote areas and war zones.According to the United Nations on the occasion of International Day for the Protection of Education, the worst-affected areas are the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the Gaza Strip, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti. Here, as elsewhere, all forms of sexual violence against young women and children are on the rise. Equally “alarming,” according to the United Nations, is the increase in brutality that characterizes other types of crimes, such as the forced recruitment of school-age child soldiers.In Ukraine, five million children struggle to access education. Around 115,000 children no longer have the opportunity to even open a book. Nearly 2,000 schools have been destroyed, and 400,000 boys and girls rely on distance learning when internet connections work. Almost as many young people and teachers have been able to rely on UN assistance to continue their classes, especially in the regions where the fighting is most intense.In Gaza, the tragic situation is increasingly serious: More than two million people have been displaced by Israeli attacks, and 660,000 children have been deprived of their right to education.Thousands upon thousands have been deprived of their right to life, and school buildings converted into temporary shelters often become death traps.Last May, bombs hit the Fahmi Al-Jirjawi Institute, killing 50 people. “No child should have to risk their life to learn,” wrote United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a message on the occasion of World Education Day: “The pen, the classroom, and the book are and will always be more powerful than the sword.”A special thought goes out to the victims of the attack on a school in Orebro, Sweden, on February 25 of this year. They were all adults, all immigrants. They had returned to school to integrate and live in peace in a country ready to welcome them. (Agenzia Fides, 23/9/2025)
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