Do you still believe you live in the greatest country in the world?

At this very moment, I’m ashamed to be an American. Before you tell me to leave if I don’t like it here, I have the right to tell you why.

In each of the past three years, 1,500 children in the U.S. have been killed by gunfire.

Since 2013, there have been 290 school shootings. In just 2015 alone, there were 372 mass shootings in the U.S. that added to the sum of 13 286 people killed by shooters who, when they missed their deadly marks, wounded another 27,000.

In the past 45 days, 18 separate school shootings have occurred in our country, prompting many terrified parents to sign up their children for home or cyber schooling.

Now I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here, but I’m not jumping on anyone’s bandwagon that shouts we need to arm every citizen or we need to get rid of guns altogether or we need to put God back in public schools.

Our country is polarized in the East and in the West and everywhere in between, and while everyone argues their sides, the killings continue.

Many Americans have turned their heads away from the latest massacre of innocent children and adults in a public school in south Florida. They’ve become desensitized from all the school slaughters, mall massacres and concert carnage.

Open your eyes at this problem, everyone. While you look away, who’s going to guarantee you that your children and grandchildren come home on the school bus today? And what makes you think that when you go to a mall or to a theater or into any public place, there won’t be someone there filled with rage and hatred who has planned to go down in his moment of glory after he obliterates those, who to him are nameless, faceless and meaningless?

I’m disgusted with our leadership in Washington. During the past several presidencies, virtually nothing has been done to quell the violence.

I’m disgusted when the best we can do is say, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families” every time another mass killing takes place.

I’m disgusted after reading that several people had known the Florida shooter had been acting strangely, or saw pictures of him holding a firearm with belts of ammunition, but said nothing, or if they did, what they said was ignored or brushed away.

Therein lies the ugly of America. We just don’t care enough about anyone outside our small circle of family and friends. With our eyes locked onto our cellphones, we can’t see our government flying a flag at half-staff from the Capitol building as our congressmen and women line their pockets with dirty money from special interest groups and do not help save us from the bullet of the barrel.

We need to get to the roots of family dysfunction and determine why the ignorance or helplessness of an increasing number of parents is breeding isolation, alienation and anger in their children. Many parents today lack the capability to manage the emotional needs of their children who then become castaways and are left unloved and disconnected from all social interaction.

In the Florida incident, the killer’s family had cried out for help. They thought their son was dangerous. Apparently, no one else did.

Instead of hoping our children forget about school terrorism, I believe we should make sure they remember.

Let’s be proactive. The movement has already begun. As I write this column, survivors and their supporters are planning to march on Washington in March. Can businesses donate money to saturate our roadways with billboards, displaying pictures and the names of the smiling victims before they were gunned down? Each time we drive, we are reminded to keep our eyes and ears open for anyone who fits the profile of a mass killer.

Ask our churches, our community centers and our PTAs to raise further public awareness. Rather than polarize everyone with who or what is to blame, we can mobilize efforts and join together to improve public safety. With public messages everywhere, a potential assailant might think he’ll not be able to enact his killing spree.

We might also post these words on the billboards and in the hallways of every school building in America, along with pictures of the young victims.

“We must never forget them.”

We cannot sit back and hope these attacks will somehow just stop. We must conquer our fear with our courage.

Our forefathers chose the eagle to represent the strength and freedom of our proud nation.

Today, we are no longer strong. We are not free from the fear of becoming the next shooter’s statistic. We are not proud in the face of the rest of the world.

Albert Einstein wrote, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

Let’s stop this horrific violence before the more innocent people die.

Our children are depending on us.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.