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Gun Violence Has a Devastating Impact on Hispanic Communities
Washington State Legislature must adequately fund Gun prevention and Intervention community-based programs that focus on wrap-around services.
Children and teens in the US experience staggeringly high rates of gun deaths and injuries. They are also harmed when a friend or family member is killed with a gun, when someone they know is shot, and when they witness and hear gunshots. Gun homicides, non-fatal shootings, and exposure to gun violence stunt lives and, because of their disproportionate impact, reflect and intensify this state’s and country’s long-standing racial inequities. Latinx children and teens are impacted by gun violence at higher rates than their white peers, in part because of deliberate policy decisions that created segregated neighborhoods and underinvestment in their communities. Exposure to gun violence has an impact on children’s and teens’ psychological and mental health well-being and affects their school performance, among other factors. When neighborhoods and schools are not safe from gun violence, entire generations of children are affected.
Gun Violence Destroys Families and Communities
The Impact of Children’s and Teens’ Exposure to Gun Violence Access to Mental Health: Children are harmed in numerous ways when they witness violence. Children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol; suffer from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder; resort to aggressive and violent behavior; and engage in criminal activity. Exposure to community violence, including witnessing shootings and hearing gunshots, makes it harder for children to succeed in school.
Children’s exposure to gun violence can also erode physical health. When children live in neighborhoods where gun violence is common, they spend less time playing and being physically active, building healthy relationships with families and peers.
Stress related to gun violence affects student performance and mental health well-being in schools. School-aged children have lower grades and more absences when they are exposed to violence. Students who have been exposed to violence have lower test scores and lower rates of high school graduation
Children and teens in the US experience staggeringly high rates of gun deaths and injuries. They are also harmed when a friend or family member is killed with a gun, when someone they know is shot, and when they witness and hear gunshots. Gun homicides, non-fatal shootings, and exposure to gun violence stunt lives and, because of their disproportionate impact, reflect and intensify this state’s and country’s long-standing racial inequities. Latinx children and teens are impacted by gun violence at higher rates than their white peers, in part because of deliberate policy decisions that created segregated neighborhoods and underinvestment in their communities. Exposure to gun violence has an impact on children’s and teens’ psychological and mental health well-being and affects their school performance, among other factors. When neighborhoods and schools are not safe from gun violence, entire generations of children are affected.
Gun Violence Destroys Families and Communities
The Impact of Children’s and Teens’ Exposure to Gun Violence Access to Mental Health: Children are harmed in numerous ways when they witness violence. Children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol; suffer from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder; resort to aggressive and violent behavior; and engage in criminal activity. Exposure to community violence, including witnessing shootings and hearing gunshots, makes it harder for children to succeed in school.
Children’s exposure to gun violence can also erode physical health. When children live in neighborhoods where gun violence is common, they spend less time playing and being physically active, building healthy relationships with families and peers.
Stress related to gun violence affects student performance and mental health well-being in schools. School-aged children have lower grades and more absences when they are exposed to violence. Students who have been exposed to violence have lower test scores and lower rates of high school graduation