Sharing Web Resources

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) website offers the option to sign up for their newsletter. I have attempted to sign up with my Walden and Gmail account, but have not received confirmation that I am subscribed as of yet. Thus, this post will focus on the issues and trends addressed on the website.

CDF advocates on behalf of all children, with a specific focus on children from low-income backgrounds, children of color, and children with disabilities. One current issue that they consider a priority policy is gun violence. In 2016, a child or teen was killed with a gun every 2 hours and 48 minutes, equating to 3,128 children or teens. Gun violence is considered the second leading cause of death among children and teens ages 1-19.

To combat gun violence, CDF works with elected officials to advocate for gun safety and against gun violence by proposing the following measures:

1. Implement Universal Background Checks
2. Prohibit Firearm Access for High-Risk Groups
3. Enact Child Access Prevention Laws
4. Require Child Safety Features for Every Gun
5. Ban Military-Style Weapons
6. Fund Gun Violence Prevention Research

CDF also notes that as of 2016 data, African-American children and teens were four times more likely to die by gun violence than white children and teens, and eight times more likely to die by gun violence than Asian and Pacific Islander children and teens. Further, the majority of gun violence deaths in the black community were attributed to homicide, whereas the majority of deaths amongst children and teens in the white community were suicides. Much like our course resources taught us this week, this policy impacts a certain demographic more than others. Thus it is important to look beyond our personal worldview to identify solutions to this problem.