Kansas City is on track to have its deadliest year since 2020. And while homicides often include youth and young adults, they're not often at the forefront of solutions to the problem.
As a part of their summer internships through ProX, an organization that pairs high school students with paid professional experience, Madison Peppers, Bryan Mayer and Mia Myers-Ray participated in projects that worked towards solutions to gun violence in youth.
Peppers worked with Second Chance KC, Mayer interned with the Kansas City Health Department and Myers-Ray for KC Common Good.
The students said that education and job opportunities are key to ending the cycle of violence for young people in the region.
"Kids just need something to lose. They need something that's so important to them that they will not risk getting themselves involved in anything that will mess that up," Myers-Ray told KCUR's Up To Date. "Whether it's for their future, whether it's for like their family, anything. So I think that that's such a big thing."
- Madison Peppers, ProX intern with Second Chance KC
- Bryan Mayer, ProX intern with the Kansas City Health Department
- Mia Myers-Ray, ProX intern with KC Common Good
