Dressed in uniforms, a crowd of men toting guns suddenly burst in your classroom in the middle of your final exam; you and the rest of your classmates are herded into cars and off to an unknown destination. Though a million questions are racing in your mind they offer no explanation and the ominous feeling of fear inside you makes you realize that you might not even want to know. That’s exactly what happened to 300 girls in Nigeria over a month ago, but I bet you’ve never even heard about it now have you? Thought so.

Most Western teenagers probably are totally unaware of the current situation in my home country, Nigeria. While these teenagers struggle to wake up and drag themselves to school five days a week, those 300 abducted school girls have been held by Nigeria’s very own Taliban for over a month.

Here is what you need to know.

According to abcnews.go.com, gunmen dressed as Nigerian military officers took around 300 girls in the middle of the night from a boarding school in Chibok (North Nigeria) and loaded them on trucks driven into the Sambisa Forest. Some of the girls were able to escape, but there are still well over 200 unaccounted for. The group responsible for this travesty goes by the name “Boko Haram,” which translates to “Western education is a sin.” Yeah, I know. I bet you would have failed that quiz, right?

Now, some of you may be inquiring what measures the Nigerian government has taken to find these girls. Very astute of you. Well, unlike in America many foreign governments (Nigeria being the most well-known) are very corrupt, with power and money-hungry men in charge. It would be still somewhat tolerable if these leaders actually stepped up and did something for their nation in crisis situations such as the one they are in now. But they don’t. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration have claimed to be doing everything they can. Does that mean sitting on their hands? Most likely.

Not until their incompetency drew a stink around the world did they accept the U.S. government’s help. While the U.S. is noble to offer help, this is really something that the Nigerian government should be able to say they have under control. Crying in front of news cameras (the First Lady of Nigeria) is not what under control looks like. My dad, who gets very heated about this situation, called those “crocodile tears”. This means that her pretending she was upset was just a cover up to direct our attention away from the government’s failure to do anything.

A team of experts has been sent into Nigeria to aid the government and military. For the girls’ sake, I hope it is not too late. The leader of Boko Haram had plans to sell the girls as brides to Islamic militants for roughly $12. Also, there has been recent news of two videos that have been released; the latest of which shows the girls in hijabs claiming that they have been converted to Islam.

The point is that these girls, ranging from 16 to 18 years of age – our age – are being persecuted simply for receiving an education as females. The same education that many of us don’t appreciate.

Just in view of the total injustice of the situation, we as young people should all be outraged. These girls have been taken away from their families and they are at the mercy of Islamic terrorists with little to no help from their own government. You would think that we would be their biggest and boldest advocates, but instead we go about our days like their situation has no effect on our lives. What we must understand is that allowing for injustice in one part of the world is the same as welcoming it into our own homes.

As educated youth, we have an enthusiasm that can be very powerful if focused and put to good use. So, we need to be actively interested not only in our community but also in others around the world. We must be aware of what is going on around us and that means coming up for air every once in a while from our petty, superficial and drama-filled teenage lives. Retweeting or reposting a hashtag on our social media websites only goes so far especially if your intention is just to go along with the newest hype.

Standing up for these girls starts with being informed. So take the time to watch or read news, then maybe next time you see posts or tweets like #BringBackOurGirls it will mean more to you than being “current.” Don’t limit your compassion. These are not just African girls. These are friends, girlfriends, sisters and soon to be mothers. Take care of them as you would your own.