‘This is our issue’: Baltimore teens ask to be heard in discussions about gun violence” by Clara Longo de Freitas

One heard gunshots for the first time by fifth grade.

Another walked away, unfazed, from a shooting scene in seventh grade.

And yet another lost their family friend, whom they considered a cousin, to gun violence in 10th grade.

Some Baltimore high schoolers are feeling hopeless. They are avoiding leaving their houses, worried they will get shot. They are dealing with post-traumatic stress and mental illness after losing loved ones to violence. They are being shot in record numbers, even as nonfatal shootings and homicides are down — with many of these shootings involving teens happening near their schools. Since January, 15 teens have died from gun violence. Read more here…