By Jennifer Iraheta-Delcid

Incidents of gun violence involving teenagers is rising in Baltimore. Teenagers are being injured and even killed in 2023 at a pace never seen before in at least a decade. On average, one victim is shot every two days and one is killed every week. The cause of the highly elevated rise in teenage brutality may be because of disagreements and rivalries.

This year, Baltimore City made a significant advancement in reducing overall violence by seizing 398 guns while seeing a 25% reduction in homicides and 27% in non-fatal shootings. Yet many Baltimore residents still have easy access to these guns, which is also a reason for this increase in gun violence among teens. High school-age teens continue to be shot in record numbers, with the year 2023 ending with 16 juvenile homicides and 94 non-fatal juvenile shooting victims. This generation of young people can’t resolve problems peacefully like talking it out. Most situations like this are victims younger than 19 years old. These conflicts can affect the well-being and mental health of many students, teachers, and parents by inducing fear and worry, and it’s devastating to the community.

“This makes me feel sad and worried at the same time because there is no security anymore… This affects me because I have a daughter in high school”, stated Joselyn Delcid. She added, “ I believe they should have more security like metal detectors and the state should remove the easy access to guns. I would feel more at peace with the security and well-being of my daughter and everyone in the school.”

Mayor Brandon Scott associates gun violence with the lack of responsibility and care of parents or even the way they raise their children. He is looking for ways to hold parents accountable. Scott is partnering with a program called “We Our Us“  in hopes of making progress through numerous small efforts that can add up to have a big impact. Scott also said he will be placing more mentors and specialists in Baltimore City schools to see if it makes an impact. The Mayor said the state and the country need stricter laws and a more efficient justice system to hold criminals accountable. Whether or not we will see a decrease in violence in the future is unclear, as teenage gun violence continues to be an unsolved problem.