Teen journalists wrote obituaries for the 1,200 kids killed by gun violence since Parkland
As the first anniversary of the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, approaches, young people around the world are reflecting on the staggering amount of gun violence that's taken place since.
To make a powerful statement on the dire need for change, a group of teen journalists came together and spent the past year reporting on gun-related deaths of children.
The group worked with The Trace, The Miami Herald, and McClatchy to write obituaries for 1,200 children killed by gun violence since the Parkland shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, to create Since Parkland, a website to honor and remember the victims.
Image: screenshot/sinceparkland.org
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"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 website reads. "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."
The website currently lists all 1,200 names of the children who died by gun violence, each of which can be clicked on if you're interested in learning more about the individual. Several entries are accompanied with photographs and there's also an option to search by name, state, or specific category, such as "Musicians," "Gamers," "College-bound seniors," and more.
Image: screengrab/sinceparkland
Image: screengrab/sinceparkland
In addition to children lost to school shootings, Since Parkland documents kids who were killed as a result of "armed domestic violence, drug homicides, unintentional discharges, and stray bullets." It should be noted, however, that the reporting excludes around 1,000 people who were "killed while injuring someone else or in police-involved shootings, nor children who died in gun suicides."
The goal of the young journalists who created Since Parkland was ultimately to humanize these statistics by telling the personal stories of the lives lost. The teens also used their voices to bring attention to every story related to the child gun violence epidemic in the past year, rather than simply highlighting the high profile ones that made headlines.
"We all remember Parkland. We’re still frightened. Frustrated. Angry. But if this project has taught us anything, it’s that we’re not powerless. We can bring awareness to the true scope of the issue. Student journalists have that power. We refuse to stand idly by," the journalists wrote.
The website officially went live on Feb. 12, two days before the Parkland anniversary, but the journalists are still planning to report additional cases as they occur.
Visitors to the site are encouraged to alert the group of any deaths that were overlooked and submit special photos or memories of those already listed by reaching out to sinceparkland@thetrace.org.
You can visit Since Parkland to learn more about the stories of the 1,200 children who died, the dedicated team of journalists, and what they learned from their reporting.
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