As high school students, we don’t have to imagine gun violence

Imagine you’re going to your son’s or daughter’s sports event. You have your camera ready to record them shining, and around the corner comes a car, guns out, shooting.

My teammates on the Central High School football team don’t have to imagine this. When we were playing West Philadelphia High School at their home field last year, the score was tied at 7-7 when a car drove by, letting off numerous shots. The night ended with a few injured and many traumatized.

A year later, one of us was at a pier party with our friends after dark. The music was loud and everybody was dancing. Not even an hour into the party, everyone heard gunshots and had to run. And then, just a few months ago, 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde was shot and killed after a football game outside of Roxborough High School.

Americans, especially young people, fear daily that we will lose our lives to gun violence, and this fear is well-founded. Gun violence deaths across the nation have increased rapidly over the last few years. Looking specifically at Philadelphia, last year there were 516 homicides, over 90% of those from gunfire. Both fatal and nonfatal shootings of children doubled in Philadelphia during the pandemic.

Action needs to be taken to prevent this harm from impacting future generations.

Philadelphia is not the only place in America where there are alarming rates of gun violence. In 2018, there were 336 mass shootings in the United States, whereas in 2021, just three years later, the number of mass shootings reached 690, which is more than double.

School shootings are also not a new occurrence, but they are becoming more and more common. The uncertainty of a child’s safety in a school building has led to parents worrying about their children every single day that they are in school, as well as school-related clubs or events. There were at least 300 shootings on school building grounds in 2022. Most of these gunmen were under 21 years old.

Young people are often at the center of these tragedies. Six of the nine deadliest shootings in America were by people under the age of 21.

Nobody, especially someone 21 years of age or younger, should have the ability to make a decision to take the lives of countless people.

We know many students, including ourselves, who come to school constantly thinking of the possibility that today may be our last day. Many parents also limit their children’s activities because they fear that gun violence will happen.

The new administration in City Hall must pass legislation related to youth protection, gun violence, and trauma support in order to reassure students and their parents that they can be safe when they leave their homes. We encourage new legislators to fight to raise the age requirement to legally purchase or carry a handgun in Philadelphia from 21 to 25. We also believe that providing better funding for opportunities outside of school — including sports, clubs, performing arts, and community service — will keep students engaged and provide them with a safe place to socialize and play. To go along with this, we believe the 10 p.m. curfew for those under 18 years old must be more strongly enforced to limit the amount of time young people are out at night, reducing the risk of them being involved in acts of gun violence.

These steps would be easy to take and would have an outsized impact on our city. The lives of countless young people are at stake.

Andy Dong is a senior athlete on the football and track teams at Central High School. Thomas Anderson is a senior athlete on the football team at Central High School.