Within 1.5mi of Clairemont High in Oakland, CA, there were 3 shootings a day in an eight-month period. There’s so much gun violence in that area that kids are used to it. That’s not something anyone in the most prosperous country in the world should have to get used to, especially our children.
“If I can wake up one day, walk outside, with the possibility of being shot at any point in time, that’s kind of nerve-wracking every day to do,” says Trevor Watson, 14, one of the youngest members of the group. “You can be at the most safest place that you think, and then some type of violence busts out.”
But that’s the thing, isn’t it—they aren’t our kids. I bet if the kids of senators and congressman had to walk to school every day in fear of being shot, gun control in this country would look a lot different. I bet if the children of white, affluent people were expected to live 10 years less than everyone else, there might be more progress in addressing this epidemic.
I really don’t think there’s much else to say. Too many people—too many kids—are getting shot every day in this country and you cannot get shot if there aren’t any guns. How complicated do we have to make this? The longer we delay dealing with this issue of gun violence, the longer we live in fear and that many more kids lose out on their childhoods.
(Read For Many Urban Schools, Gun Violence Remains A Daily Reality via NPR.)