2007 Teen Gun Survey released
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley (below with students and Hirsch High School Principal Joyce Cooper), Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) and representatives from Chicago Public Schools and Police Department joined to present the 8th annual UCAN Teen Gun Survey at a news conference January 8.
01.jpg "Daley with students")
Noting that twenty-four CPS students were killed by guns during the 2006-2007 school year and summer, local teens urged adults to find a solution to curb the violence. In this year's survey, one in three teens nationwide said that they know someone who has been shot.
The racial differences in the survey are alarming. African-American youth nationwide are twice as likely to know someone who has been shot. Fifty-nine percent of black teens, versus twenty-three percent of white teens, responded they know someone who has been shot.
"As a teen in Chicago Public Schools, it's unacceptable for us to be in fear of gun violence every day,"
Ashley Brown, Hyde Park Academy.
Each year, the UCAN Teen Gun Survey gives youth an outlet to express their opinions and to reflect on how violence affects their peers nationwide:
- 62 percent of females believe that violence in movies, video games and TV leads to gun violence, versus 47 percent of males who think the same.
- 66 percent of the UCAN Teen Gun Survey respondents said "there should be a ban on assault weapons for anyone who is not a military or law enforcement officer."
"I think the results of the survey put the issue of teen violence in clear focus and that every person in Chicago should find them disturbing. This should be a wake up call for all of us."
Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Along with several 2008 initiatives focused on youth safety, Mayor Daley announced a Chicago Youth Summit on violence to take place in February and to be led by the Chicago Police Department's CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy) program, a community policing program.
Mayor Daley has been committed to listening to and supporting teens throughout his career, and has been involved with several UCAN projects. A variety of elected officials continue to respond to these survey results by supporting efforts to end the tragedy of gun violence. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) endorses UCAN's comprehensive violence prevention work and participated in the release of three previous Teen Gun Survey results. Illinois Rep. Deborah Graham (D-78th) participated in the release of the 2006 survey results and shared that year's stunning statistics at subsequent press conferences with statewide impact. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan emphatically quoted 2006 survey results in media interviews outlining her plans for increased neighborhood safety.
Speaking on the issue of gun crimes each week in the U.S. Senate, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin used UCAN Teen Gun Survey statistics in his 224th address last year. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationally funded commitment to reduce gun crime in America, also included statistics and a link to the full UCAN Teen Gun Survey in a past press release.
The feelings expressed by teens in the survey echo the findings in the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Report on police shootings, which was released in September 2007. The 2007 IACP Report recommended that "gun violence prevention should be included as part of the regular health education curriculum." Youth feel the same way, with 56 percent responding in the UCAN Teen Gun Survey that they "would benefit from more violence-prevention programs and resources."
A social service agency, UCAN sponsors the annual Teen Gun Survey to give young people the vehicle to publicly advocate for violence-free solutions. The organization's "Hands Without Guns" program is a comprehensive violence interruption program that includes educational workshops, public education and peer mentoring. For additional information on UCAN violence prevention programs, please contact Claude Robinson, Executive Vice President of Youth Development and Diversity (773-429-9307).
