Kids can recover from trauma of gun violence. It’s up to us to make that possible.

The scene outside Comer Children’s Hospital on the South Side after a 4-year-old boy was critically wounded in a shooting in September 2021. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

No human being ever “gets used to” the trauma of gun violence. Experiencing shootings, directly or indirectly, is especially harrowing for children.  

Survivors of trauma can heal, but it takes intensive support over the long term.