{"id":1077,"date":"2023-04-11T05:33:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2023-04-11T05:33:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:33:14","slug":"pandemic-stress-gangs-and-utter-fear-fueled-a-rise-in-teen-shootings-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=1077","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Stress, Gangs, and Utter Fear Fueled a Rise in Teen Shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Diego never imagined he\u2019d carry a gun.<\/p>\n

Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down.<\/p>\n

Diego\u2019s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe<\/a>. But instead of hymns, Diego heard gunfire, and then screaming. A gang member shot two people, including one of Diego\u2019s friends, who was hit nine times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend was bleeding out,\u201d said Diego, who asked KHN not to use his last name to protect his safety and privacy. As his friend lay on the ground, \u201che was choking on his own blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack left Diego\u2019s friend paralyzed from the waist down. And it left Diego, one of a growing number<\/a> of teens who witness gun violence, traumatized and afraid<\/a> to go outside without a gun.<\/p>\n

Research shows that adolescents exposed to gun violence are twice as likely as others<\/a> to perpetrate a serious violent crime within two years, perpetuating a cycle that can be hard to interrupt.<\/p>\n

Diego asked his friends for help finding a handgun and \u2014 in a country supersaturated with firearms \u2014 they had no trouble procuring one, which they gave him free.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt safer with the gun,\u201d said Diego, now 21. \u201cI hoped I wouldn\u2019t use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For two years, Diego kept the gun only as a deterrent. When he finally pulled the trigger, it changed his life forever.<\/p>\n

Disturbing Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n

The news media focuses heavily on mass shootings and the mental state of the people who commit them. But there is a far larger epidemic<\/a> of gun violence \u2014 particularly among Black, Hispanic, and Native American<\/a> youth \u2014 ensnaring some kids not even old enough to get a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

Research shows that chronic exposure to trauma<\/a> can change the way a child\u2019s brain develops<\/a>. Trauma also can play a central role in explaining why some young people look to guns for protection and wind up using them against their peers.<\/p>\n

The number of children under 18 who killed someone with a firearm jumped from 836 in 2019 to 1,150 in 2020.<\/a><\/p>\n

In New York City, the number of young people who killed someone with a gun more than doubled, rising from 48 juvenile offenders in 2019 to 124 in 2022, according to data from the city\u2019s police department.<\/p>\n

Youth gun violence increased more modestly in other cities; in many places, the number of teen gun homicides rose in 2020 but has since fallen closer to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n

Researchers who analyze crime statistics stress that teens are not driving<\/a> the overall rise in gun violence, which has increased across all ages<\/a>. In 2020, 7.5% of homicide arrests<\/a> involved children under 18, a slightly smaller share than in previous years.<\/p>\n

Local leaders have struggled with the best way to respond to teen shootings.<\/p>\n

A handful of communities \u2014 including Pittsburgh<\/a>; Fulton County, Georgia;<\/a> and Prince George\u2019s County, Maryland<\/a> \u2014 have debated or implemented youth curfews to curb teen violence. What\u2019s not in dispute: More people ages 1 to 19 die by gun violence<\/a> than by any other cause.<\/p>\n

A Lifetime of Limits<\/strong><\/p>\n

The devastating toll of gun violence shows up in emergency rooms every day.<\/p>\n

At the UChicago Medicine trauma center, the number of gunshot wounds in children under 16 has doubled in the past six years, said Dr. Selwyn Rogers, the center\u2019s founding director. The youngest victim was 2. \u201cYou hear the mother wail, or the brother say, \u2018It\u2019s not true,\u2019\u201d said Rogers, who works with local youth as the hospital\u2019s executive vice president for community health engagement. \u201cYou have to be present in that moment, but then walk out the door and deal with it all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Selwyn Rogers is the founding director of UChicago Medicine\u2019s trauma center. In the past six years, the trauma center has seen the number of gunshot wounds in children under 16 double.(UChicago Medicine)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In recent years, the justice system has struggled to balance the need for public safety with compassion for kids, based on research that shows a young person\u2019s brain doesn\u2019t fully mature until age 25<\/a>. Most young offenders \u201cage out\u201d<\/a> of criminal or violent behavior around the same time, as they develop more self-control and long-range thinking skills.<\/p>\n

Yet teens accused of shootings are often charged as adults, which means they face harsher punishments than kids charged as juveniles, said Josh Rovner, director of youth justice at the Sentencing Project, which advocates for justice system reform.<\/p>\n

About 53,000 juveniles<\/a> in 2019 were charged as adults, which can have serious health repercussions. These teens are more likely to be victimized while incarcerated, Rovner said, and to be arrested again after release.<\/p>\n

Young people can spend much of their lives in a poverty-imposed lockdown, never venturing far beyond their neighborhoods, learning little about opportunities that exist in the wider world, Rogers said. Millions of American children<\/a> \u2014 particularly Black, Hispanic, and Native American<\/a> kids \u2014 live in environments plagued by poverty, violence, and drug use.<\/p>\n

The covid-19 pandemic amplified all those problems, from unemployment<\/a> to food<\/a> and housing insecurity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although no one can say with certainty what spurred the surge in shootings in 2020, research has long linked hopelessness<\/a> and lack of trust in police<\/a> \u2014 which increased after the murder of George Floyd that year \u2014 to an increased risk of community violence. Gun sales soared 64%<\/a> from 2019 to 2020, while many violence prevention programs<\/a> shut down.<\/p>\n

One of the most serious losses children faced during the pandemic was the closure of schools \u2014 institutions that might provide the only stabilizing force in their young lives \u2014 for a year or more in many places.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic just turned up the fire under the pot,\u201d said Elise White, deputy director of research at the nonprofit Center for Justice Innovation, which works with communities and justice systems. \u201cLooking back, it\u2019s easy to underplay now just how uncertain that time [during the pandemic] felt. The more that people feel uncertain, the more they feel there\u2019s no safety around them, the more likely they are to carry weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, most children who experience hardship never break the law. Multiple studies have found that most gun violence is perpetrated by a relatively small number of people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The presence of even one supportive adult<\/a> can protect children from becoming involved with crime, said Dr. Abdullah Pratt, a UChicago Medicine emergency physician who lost his brother to gun violence.<\/p>\n

Pratt also lost four friends to gun violence during the pandemic. All four died in his emergency room; one was the son of a hospital nurse.<\/p>\n

Although Pratt grew up in a part of Chicago where street gangs were common, he benefited from the support of loving parents and strong role models, such as teachers and football coaches. Pratt was also protected by his older brother, who looked out for him and made sure gangs left the future doctor alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve been able to accomplish,\u201d Pratt said, \u201cis because someone helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing Up in a \u2018War Zone\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diego had no adults at home to help him feel safe.<\/p>\n

His parents were often violent. Once, in a drunken rage, Diego\u2019s father grabbed him by the leg and swung him around the room, Diego said, and his mother once threw a toaster at his father.<\/p>\n

At age 12, Diego\u2019s efforts to help the family pay overdue bills \u2014 by selling marijuana and stealing from unlocked cars and apartments \u2014 led his father to throw him out of the house.<\/p>\n

At 13, Diego joined a gang made up of neighborhood kids. Gang members \u2014 who recounted similar stories about leaving the house to escape abuse \u2014 gave him food and a place to stay. \u201cWe were like a family,\u201d Diego said. When the kids were hungry, and there was no food at home, \u201cwe\u2019d go to a gas station together to steal some breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Abdullah Pratt is a UChicago Medicine emergency physician who lost his brother to gun violence. Pratt says the presence of even one supportive adult can protect children from becoming involved with crime.(UChicago Medicine)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Diego, who was smaller than most of the others, lived in fear. At 16, Diego weighed only 100 pounds. Bigger boys bullied and beat him up. And his successful hustle \u2014 selling stolen merchandise on the street for cash \u2014 got the attention of rival gang members, who threatened to rob him.<\/p>\n

Children who experience chronic violence can develop a \u201cwar zone mentality,\u201d<\/a> becoming hypervigilant to threats, sometimes sensing danger where it doesn\u2019t exist, said James Garbarino, an emeritus professor of psychology at Cornell University and Loyola University-Chicago. Kids who live with constant fear<\/a> are more likely to look to firearms or gangs for protection. They can be triggered to take preemptive action \u2014 such as firing a gun without thinking \u2014 against a perceived threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir bodies are constantly ready for a fight,\u201d said Gianna Tran, deputy executive director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center in Oakland, California, which works with young people living in poverty, trauma, and neglect.<\/p>\n

Unlike mass shooters, who buy guns and ammunition because they\u2019re intent on murder, most teen violence is not premeditated, Garbarino said.<\/p>\n

In surveys, most young people who carry guns \u2014 including gang members<\/a> \u2014 say they do so out of fear or to deter attacks<\/a>, rather than perpetrate them. But fear of community violence, both from rivals and the police, can stoke an urban arms race, in which kids feel that only the foolish walk around without a weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentally, violence is a contagious disease,\u201d said Dr. Gary Slutkin, founder of Cure Violence Global<\/a>, which works to prevent community violence.<\/p>\n

Although a small number of teens become hardened and remorseless, Pratt said, he sees far more shootings caused by \u201cpoor conflict resolution\u201d and teenage impulsivity rather than a desire to kill.<\/p>\n

Indeed, firearms and an immature teenage brain are a dangerous mix, Garbarino said. Alcohol and drugs can magnify the risk. When confronted with a potentially life-or-death situation, kids may act without thinking.<\/p>\n

When Diego was 16, he was walking a girl to school and they were approached by three boys, including a gang member who, using obscene and threatening language, asked if Diego was also in a gang. Diego said he tried to walk past the boys, one of whom appeared to have a gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how to fire a gun,\u201d Diego said. \u201cI just wanted them to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n

In news accounts of the shooting, witnesses said they heard five gunshots. \u201cThe only thing I remember is the sound of the shots,\u201d Diego said. \u201cEverything else was going in slow motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diego had shot two of the boys in the legs. The girl ran one way, and he ran another. Police arrested Diego at home a few hours later. He was tried as an adult, convicted of two counts of attempted homicide, and sentenced to 12 years.<\/p>\n

A Second Chance<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past two decades, the justice system has made major changes in the way it treats children.<\/p>\n

Youth arrests for violent crime plummeted 67% <\/a>from 2006 to 2020, and 40 states<\/a> have made it harder to charge minors as adults. States also are adopting alternatives to incarceration<\/a>, such as group homes that allow teens to remain in their communities, while providing treatment to help them change their behavior.<\/p>\n

Because Diego was 17 when he was sentenced, he was sent to a juvenile facility, where he received therapy for the first time.<\/p>\n

Diego finished high school while behind bars and went on to earn an associate\u2019s degree from a community college. He and other young inmates went on field trips to theaters and the aquarium \u2014 places he had never been. The detention center director asked Diego to accompany her to events about juvenile justice reform, where he was invited to tell his story.<\/p>\n

Those were eye-opening experiences for Diego, who realized he had seen very little of Chicago, even though he had spent his life there.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, the only thing you see is your community,\u201d said Diego, who was released after four years in detention, when the governor commuted his sentence. \u201cYou assume that is what the whole world is like.\u201d<\/p>\n

KHN data editor Holly K. Hacker and researcher Megan Kalata contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n