A little more than a year ago, the students affected by the Parkland shooting sparked a national movement to combat gun violence. More than a year later, that shooting is still claiming lives.

Sydney Aiello, a 19-year-old college student who survived the shooting, a few weeks ago died by suicide after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. A few days later, Calvin Desir, a 16-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, took his own life.

These events are not a coincidence. Gun violence directly affects the mental health and well-being of survivors, but it also impacts the entire community. But the trauma of most communities affected by gun violence rarely ever reaches the news.

Gun violence needs to be treated as a public health issue, especially in cities like Syracuse, which has high rates of gun violence.

“One of the main things that we’re trying to do in Syracuse is reduce the trauma that people face because we believe that the trauma is part of the trigger that starts the cycle again,” said Sandra Lane, a professor of anthropology and public health in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. “So, our community partners are working very hard with youth in the hardest hit areas to reduce the trauma they face. And I’m trying to help them see that by completing their education and taking care of their own families’ needs for safety, they can be part of the solution.”

Lane researches neighborhood trauma and gun violence. She also works closely with the Street Addiction Institute, a local initiative that offers programs on conflict avoidance and violence de-escalation as well as trauma response teams for neighborhoods that are affected by gun violence.

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Without efforts to strengthen gun laws and support for communities, residents are vulnerable to the same mental illnesses as school shooting survivors, including PTSD, anxiety and depression.

In order to solve the multifaceted issue of gun violence in urban areas, there needs to be both community- and policy-level solutions. And while gun regulations remain a lively topic of debate, the country is slow to make changes.

In the meantime, we can focus on supporting those in our own community impacted by gun violence. Programs like Street Addiction Institute that provide opportunities for at-risk youth, have the power to stop the cycle of gun violence by responding to the trauma that witnesses of violence face.

Visit SuicideIsPreventable.org to learn about the warning signs for suicide and find local resources in your county. If you or someone you know may be at risk, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for immediate help.

Madeline Johnson is a sophomore international relations and magazine journalism major and a Spanish minor. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at mjohns38@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @johnson_madeli.

Published on April 14, 2019 at 11:59 pm