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Steering young people from violence

Protecting young people from violence – especially gun violence – is a tough job in many communities.

Statistics provided by the Children’s Defense Fund in its 2014 “State of America’s Children” report paint a troubling picture of gun violence in our country:

  • 2,694 children and teens were killed by guns in the U.S. in 2010.
  • 15,576 children and teens were injured by guns during that same period.
  • That means one child or teen was killed or injured every 30 minutes, 50 every day, and 351 every week.
Photo courtesy of the Children’s Defense Fund
Photo courtesy of the Children’s Defense Fund

 

We take our role of protecting young people from harm very seriously in Scouting, so when I saw how one troop leader is taking the problem of gun violence head-on, I wanted to share his story.

Troop 772 in Fort Pierce, Florida was set up by Scoutmaster Scott Van Duzer to help steer middle school students away from violence. Read more

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Gabriella