Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/tag/youth-violence/)
To address the changing dynamics of gang activity, Chicago needs to combat concentrated poverty in African-American neighborhoods instead of continuing to criminally target economically disenfranchised youth.
The district’s most vulnerable students often end up in alternative schools that are especially under-resourced to cope with the trauma of gun violence.
Parents have warned about the risks of closing and consolidating schools for years, but officials continue with plans that jeopardize student safety.
Young Chicagoans whose loved ones were gunned down navigate mental health struggles in a new web series by The Triibe that combines documentary and poetry.
Rahm Emanuel supports a bill that would ramp up penalties for gun possession, but a recent report explains why tougher sentencing hasn’t improved public safety in Illinois.
As the mayor disburses millions in TIF money to pet projects, budget cuts at CPS threaten community stability and programs crucial to stemming violence, like summer school.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel should combat the root causes of youth gun violence by better funding school social workers and counselors, early childhood education, and mental health clinics.
A proposal by police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to institute harsher sentences for gun crimes and a proposal by some aldermen to arrest more people for “quality of life” crimes have little to no backing in research.
In an interactive exhibit at the Poetry Foundation, student poets from Phoenix Military Academy shared their experiences with urban violence.
If Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to provide Chicago youth the hopeful future he spoke about this week in his inaugural address, there are a number of areas where concerted leadership could make a big difference.