‘Since Parkland’: A remarkable project by teen journalists about kids killed by guns in America
12 months1,200 American kids killed by guns1,200 stories about the lives they led, reported by teen journalists across the country
That’s the start to a remarkable project, titled “Since Parkland,” which was conceived and carried out by teenage journalists who said they got tired of adult news organizations covering mass shootings en masse but failing to spend enough time or resources chronicling the gun violence that too many American children face every day in their own neighborhoods.
So, as the project’s new website explains, more than 200 teen journalists across the country last summer began researching and writing the life stories of young Americans — from newborns to 18-year-olds — who were killed during a year in this country.
Their stories start on Feb. 14, 2018, the day a gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and killed 17 people, 14 of them students. Those young people were not the only ones to die in America from guns that day.
Among the stories told is that of Christian Robinson, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Port Richey, Fla., who was shot in the head. His mother donated his organs to help five people stay alive.
This and other stories, and information about the project and biographies of the writers, can be found on the sinceparkland.org website, which launched Tuesday and is still a work in progress.
Take the time and read some of the stories about life in America today.
For the record, multiple organizations supported the teenagers, the website says:
The Trace, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to reporting on gun violence, worked with journalism teachers to provide the students with training and editing. Another nonprofit, the Gun Violence Archive, maintains the running count of shooting incidents from which the project team identified child victims. The CONTINUE READING: ‘Since Parkland’: A remarkable project by teen journalists about kids killed by guns in America - The Washington Post