As a child, my dad spent much of his elementary school days stuck under his desk.

A studying technique of the ’50s? Not quite.

As the sirens screamed, he did what he was trained to do in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack — duck and cover.

When did we stop getting under the desk?

When did we stop hiding under our chairs?

The siren roars and we have no fear.

The indifferent attitude of today’s youth towards the looming threat of nuclear holocaust is reason for worry.

My generation is more concerned about how many friends we have on Facebook than the likelihood of a nuclear bomb sinking the state of Georgia into the Atlantic.

The prevailing sentiment of the post-Cold War generation is apathy.

We’re America, right? Not a country on earth could compare to our unparalleled strength and power. So what do we have to worry about?

Everything.

Al-Qaida has already destroyed our twin towers, annihilated a fifth of the most secure buildings on earth, bombed our embassies abroad and nearly sunk the USS Cole.

No one would doubt for a second they’d wipe out New York with a nuclear weapon if given the opportunity.

The nature of our enemy is abstract.

They are not a nation, a land or territory with a face that brute force can destroy.

They are elusive and resourceful enemies that we can’t just simply nuke in return should they strike first.

If one of our cities is hit, there is just no way to hit back.

But these nuclear arms are locked up, right?

Buried under meters of concrete and steel?

On the contrary, my friend. There are hundreds of improperly secured nuclear arms throughout Russia and the Far East.

That’s the least of it. We have to consider the 18 cases of nuclear materials being stolen or illegally smuggled, including the hydrogen bomb off the coast of Tybee Island that disappeared in 1958.

It has yet to be found.

Forty-seven heads of state met in Washington this month, attempting to resolve these issues and find a way to secure the world’s nuclear arsenal.

They failed.

During the Global Nuclear Security Summit in April, Canada, Mexico and Ukraine unilaterally committed to destroying their extra plutonium and uranium.

No one else is going to throw away their arms.

Congratulations. You just lost your comparative advantage.

Until all states are obligated to do likewise, these radioactive elements will continue to be produced and sold to individuals with malicious intent.

While Russian and US diplomats pat themselves on the back for their commitment to destroying 68 metric tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium, the public stands in bewilderment, wondering why no action will be taken until 2018.

It doesn’t make sense that attending nations to this summit would, “vow to keep atomic bombs out of terrorists’ hands.”

The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material made this goal obligatory in 1987. Securing nuclear materials is no new objective.

I find it laughable that politicians and diplomats believe they are making headway on the nuclear issue when each step they take has already been taken.

As a college student, I don’t claim to have the fix-all answer to solve the world’s nuclear crisis.

But as a human being, I do know that if something isn’t done immediately to combat nuclear terrorism, we won’t have time to reap the repercussions.

We’ll be dead.

Although the conference failed to enforce progressive policies for securing nuclear weapons, it did take a few baby steps in the right direction.

Putting pressure on Iran and North Korea is a good beginning, but we need to take drastic action to eliminate these weapons.

I have always been an advocate of poverty reduction, improving social organization and environment protection.

I have had the privilege of traveling to a variety of countries to make that goal a reality.

Unfortunately, there won’t be much of a world left to save if proactive steps to solve this issue aren’t taken immediately.

— Charles Ford is a senior from Lawrenceville majoring in international affairs, religion and Arabic