Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry released a report on the impact of gun violence on the mental health of teens across the state to help schools improve how they address these issues for students.
Henry, who released the report, titled “Teen Talk,” on Tuesday, described how he spent time with students in four school districts across the state — Philadelphia, McKeesport, Hazelton and Steelton-Highspire — to find out about the issues teens are facing and how they feel gun violence has affected their lives.
“Our children are confronted with the destruction that guns cause almost daily,” Henry said, “and we must do all we can to help them cope with the trauma and fear.”
He said his office hopes to release the report in June, at the end of the school year and during Gun Violence Awareness Month, to give schools time to read and consider the report before considering how parts of it can be used in their districts.
“I hope every school district in this great state will find something in this report that they can build on and expand upon what they’re already doing,” she said.
Henry said in meetings with students in grades 9 through 12, he learned they were concerned about school officials’ transparency regarding gun violence, especially when incidents occur, and that they wanted better conflict resolution during gun violence incidents and to address fears of retaliation.
“This was a student-led discussion,” she said. “We sat in a circle and students shared their fears and concerns with me.”
In a statement about the report, Henry said some students spoke about losing family members or loved ones, and many expressed frustration at having to adapt to gun violence as an all-too-frequent occurrence in their lives.
In fact, according to the city auditor’s office, 105 teenagers and young people under the age of 18 have been victims of gun violence so far this year, 17 of them fatally.
Henry said a recurring theme in the ongoing discussions is that students who have experienced the trauma of gun violence in their own lives feel they need more time from school officials to process the incidents.
“Students want and need time to process the trauma of the gun violence they are witnessing in their lives.”
She said the students identified three areas the school should focus on improving: improving communication between students and school officials, expanding options for mental health services and increasing funding and resources for programs that help address these issues, such as social-emotional learning and conflict resolution.
You can read the full report here.
