YMG survey: 70% of high school students think about gun violence “some, a lot, or all of the time”

Students also report on the impact, solutions

By Brie Zeltner

Youthcast Media Group®

Gun violence is so much a part of American life that many of us have grown numb to the constant drumbeat of shootings, whether they’re at schools, churches, grocery stores, or in our own neighborhoods. 

But that’s not the case with young people, we learned in our fall intensive reporting workshop. The12 student reporters and the peers they interviewed are uniquely burdened. Gun violence has been the leading cause of death for teens in this country for the past four years– and they are scared, anxious, and constantly alert to the threat of guns around them. 

Students attend YMG's gun violence workshop to learn how to report on a topic sadly familiar to many of them.

“It's awful that kids have to be scared for their lives and not know if they're going to make it to 18,” said Beautiful Vinson, a Philadelphia teen whose brother was shot and killed in 2021 and is featured in one of our workshop stories. 

In a YMG survey of more than 80 teens across the country conducted during the workshop, 70% of participants said that they think about gun violence or the threat of gun violence some, a lot, or all of the time. 

Our students’ stories, which will be pitched to publications very soon, focused on the effect gun violence has on teens and what can and should be done to address it. 

In the YMG survey, 30% of participants want to see stricter laws around the types of guns that are available in communities. They also talked about the importance of programs and campaigns that provide awareness of the dangers, and of a shortage of access to mental health services in the community.

While the topic is heavy, workshops like these offer our students the opportunity to meet and interview other young people who are advocating for change and to see the impact they’re making– this fall it was Robert Schentrup, whose sister was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting and who now works for Brady’s Team ENOUGH, a youth-led initiative of the national anti-gun violence organization. 

Approaching these stories from the perspective of a journalist also gives our students a chance to make a difference in a different way– by sharing the stories of their peers and helping readers see the issue from the perspective of young people. 

“It's honestly such an important topic that's not covered in my community,” one workshop participant said. “Understanding and learning that it's a bigger issue than we make it out to be has made me interested in learning more and providing others with that knowledge.”

Keep an eye on our LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook accounts for news about the publication of these and other student stories, along with efforts from our students in our virtual fall boot camp on passenger safety and on in-class writing boot camps at Annandale High School in Virginia and Bard High School Early College DC.

Wishing you all a happy– and peaceful– holiday season and new year.