After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, kids who endured the unspeakable emerged with a blunt message for the grownups of America: You are failing us. Their frustration was initially and primarily directed at elected officials in Washington and state capitals around the country, but it also extended to the media.
Since Parkland, a new project from The Trace and the Miami Herald, was conceived as an antidote to that imbalance — one powered by young people themselves.
Over the summer, more than 200 teen reporters from across the country began working together to document the children, ages zero to 18, killed in shootings during one year in America. The stories they collected go back to last February 14, the day of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when at least three other kids were fatally shot in incidents that largely escaped notice. As the weeks went on, the stories came to include children lost to school shootings, as well as to armed domestic violence, unintentional discharges, and stray bullets.
Through the determination of the student reporters who powered this project, we have gained an unprecedented account of the full scale and contours of gun violence as it impacts American children. Since Parkland was their story to tell. It is told in their voices.
We believe it deserves your time. Please click the banner below to visit the project site.
