A cycle of stress and grief for the city’s youth | Morning Newsletter

This is Thursday. Clouds will be rolling through the sky and we’ll top out at 40 degrees.

Philadelphia’s shootings and murders declined in 2023, but gun violence remains a crisis. This is especially true for the city’s youngest people, who are constantly feeling the ache of the loss of their peers. Our lead story highlights the programs and individuals trying to help teenagers process grief.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Edie R. King, a licensed professional counselor, says that many of Philadelphia’s youth are stuck in a persistent cycle of stress and grief because of the city’s constant gun violence.

Their friends and family are often victimized, but the impact of such violence resonates beyond those who were physically present or were personally connected to those involved. And young people, who are particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma and grief, don’t typically have the coping skills or resources to deal with what they experience so regularly.

When a young person is shot in Philadelphia, there’s a good chance that Pastor Aaron Campbell, or one of the thousand teenagers who come to his Level Up after-school program, knows them.

Campbell said kids from Level Up have been victims of gun violence. Most recently, it was 16-year-old Tyshaun Wells. He was shot on Jan. 11 while he was waiting for a train after an evening spent at the program.

Teens at the program can get overwhelmed trying to come to terms with the persistent problem of gun violence, Campbell said. He has noticed this constant awareness of threats in the way they communicate with each other.

Notable quote: “You’ll hear kids in Philadelphia speak to one another the way soldiers in a war zone speak to each other,” Campbell said.

King and Campbell stress the importance of adults taking notice of the youth in their lives who are struggling, and leading with compassion and empathy. King also advised against minimizing the trauma youth may experience.

Keep reading to learn more on how these city leaders are offering Philly teens support and helping them release the pain from loss.

Health-care workers in Philadelphia routinely experience on-the-job violence, according to information acquired and reviewed by The Inquirer.

Police reports in the last two years show that officers regularly respond to reports of assaults on workers at the city’s four trauma centers: Jefferson Einstein Medical Center, Temple University Hospital, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (which is separate from Einstein but also owned by Jefferson Health).

In interviews, nurses in union leadership spoke about their experiences with violence on the job, and shared that how hospital leaders deal with the issue impacts morale and perceptions of safety. These episodes illustrate the day-to-day dangers that nurses face from a concerning rise in violence against hospital workers across the state and nation.

Looking for solutions: Regular communication with hospital leadership and security measures (like weapons detectors and cameras) can help improve safety and morale for staff, unionized nurses say.

Keep reading to see preliminary data on instances of assaults involving staffers and more of the safety concerns at Philly’s major hospitals.

Gen Z says it’s much gayer than older generations.

About how many young adults today identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or queer?

A) 10%

B) 20%

C) 30%

D) 40%

Think you know? Check your answer.

👀 Peeking at: Terrain’s new event space on the Main Line.

🍝 Learning: The name and facade for Stephen Starr’s next Rittenhouse restaurant.

❤️ Loving: The wholesome energy from the operator behind SEPTA’s “Love Trolley.”

Hint: This phrase has its own dictionary entry now. Hopefully it doesn’t give you “the ick” (another new entry). 🍴

GRIND LINER

Email us if you know the answer, and as a bonus, tell us how you would use it in a sentence. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Catherine Nardone who correctly guessed Wednesday’s answer: Philadelphia Flower Show.

Thanks for hanging out with me this morning. Take care and have a great day.

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