Washington CeaseFire’s
Gun Safety Education for High School Students
Education Program Making Progress
A firearm is present in forty percent of American homes; guns are a fact of life for us. But awareness of the risks of firearm injury can protect us and the people around us. Awareness that the presence of a gun in a home increases the risk of suicide and homicide. Awareness of the importance of proper locking and storage of firearms. Awareness of laws, such as our extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law, which can be used to save lives. Yet, though gun violence is the number one cause of death nationally for the 0-18 age group, learning about this public health issue is not a part of the standard health curriculum.
At Washington CeaseFire we believe that education is one of the critically important ingredients to a successful public health-focused campaign to reduce firearm injuries in our community. That’s why we support the Firearm Injury Prevention Education program, through which high school students are given tools to decrease their risk of gun injury and learn about how public health approaches hold the promise of reversing our gun violence epidemic.
Since 2017 our program has reached six thousand students and we’re in the middle of our most successful semester ever, on target to reach 1500 students. We are partnering with medical students at UW to reach more schools in Washington State and working with Moms Demand Action to expand to other parts of the country. Washington CeaseFire is also working with the Edmonds School District to make education on firearm injury a part of the standard health curriculum.
Don’t you agree that students deserve to know?
Students Deserve to Know the Facts about Gun Violence
When most people think about gun violence they think about the tragic mass shootings that the media cover periodically in our country. What they may not realize is that mass shootings account for less than 1% of gun deaths. Gun deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in half the states in the country, including Washington State.
From a health standpoint, gun violence is particularly relevant to high school students. Gun deaths are the number one cause of death in their age group.
Unfortunately, the conversation on gun violence in this country is one of polarization, pitting “gun control” advocates against “gun rights” advocates in a shouting match that overlooks common interests between many responsible gun owners and medical professionals, who agree that we can make our schools and communities safer by treating gun violence as a public health issue. The perception of firearm injury as a political, rather than health issue, has hampered the application of public health tools aimed at reducing death and injuries.
We at Washington CeaseFire focus on the high school population for two reasons: one, there is an important lesson in health to be learned. We discuss how public health professionals think about community health and go about promoting safety and saving lives. Washington State needs informed citizens who can make choices that will lead to safer, healthier communities. Two, gun violence is an unfortunate reality in our society, and there are practical, important steps students can take to keep themselves, friends, and their families safe and healthy.
We present evidence-based facts about gun violence to high school students, without embellishment or a political agenda. The goal of our program is to inform students and give them tools to make safe decisions. Since 2017, with the help of a grant from the King County Academy of Family Physicians, we have reached over 6000 students in grades 9-12 at high schools in Seattle, Tacoma and as far East as Wenatchee. The presentation has been vetted by Lisa Love, director of health curricula for Seattle Public Schools and recommended by superintendents of Tacoma and Edmonds Schools. And, it has been enthusiastically received by students, teachers, and administrators. One student asked after class, “Why haven’t we been taught this material before?”
If you are a student, a parent, a teacher, administrator, or just a concerned citizen who would like to learn more about this free program, please contact me:
Attending Physician
Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital
Utqiagvik, Alaska
+1-206-963-6915
ga_engel@yahoo.com