From 2015 to 2021, a total of 2672 child shootings were reported in four cities - NYC, LA, Chicago and Philly. The risk of getting shot nearly doubled for children during the pandemic, but not for white kids - the increased risk was almost entirely limited to Black, Hispanic and Asian children. NYC had the worst increase.In this study, child firearm assaults increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 4 major US cities. Racial and ethnic disparities increased, as Hispanic, Asian, and especially Black children experienced disproportionate shares of the increased violence.
One limitation of this study is that our design did not assess causes of these changes. However, our results are broadly consistent with research identifying sharper pandemic-associated violence increases in neighborhoods with less racial and economic privilege. Possible explanations include COVID-19’s exacerbation of inequities in access to health, employment, and educational resources.
The concentration of firearm victimization among Black, Hispanic, and Asian children must be addressed at the individual, community, and societal levels. It is critical to focus community safety and mental health interventions in the most affected communities and to target structural racism as a fundamental driver of the US firearm violence epidemic.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamane ... le/2802128