Teens, Social Media, and Reducing Gun Violence: A Roadmap

Teens, Social Media, and Reducing Gun Violence: A Roadmap
moderated by WTTW's Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices Host Joanna Hernandez
Nina Vinik (Project Unloaded), Jadine Chou (CPS), Dr. Selwyn Rogers (UChicago Medicine), Olivia Brown (Project Unloaded), Laia McClain (Whitney Young High School)
The Joyce Foundation is hosting a three-part series, Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community, in partnership with the City Club of Chicago and WTTW's Firsthand Initiative & WTTW News, join us for the final program in collaboration with Project Unloaded.
In Chicago and beyond, there’s no shortage of concern for how social media platforms are impacting today’s teens. From mental health worries to online arguments spilling into offline conflicts, the conversation on how social media can be a problem is vast. But what if teens on social media could also help solve a pressing public health problem?
That’s the idea that’s brought together leaders from Chicago Public Schools, University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, After School Matters and the teen-powered gun violence prevention group Project Unloaded. In light of a WBEZ report finding over half of Chicago’s mass shootings involve victims under 20, teens must be part of the solution to Chicago’s gun violence problem. Project Unloaded works to reach teens through social media campaigns and community partnerships and shares with them the facts on how having a gun makes them less safe. In the last year, Project Unloaded reached more than 150,000 Chicago teens through social media campaigns and hundreds more through offline partnerships.
October 8, 2024