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Fifteen-year-old Josiah Owens is considering owning a gun one day because he wants protection. He doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as his best friend, whom he says survived a shooting a couple of years ago.
Owens, a sophomore at Disney II Magnet High School on the Northwest Side, was one of 23 Chicago teens ages 13 to 17 who took part in a recent weeklong program to learn about the risks of gun ownership and how to share those statistics with peers through a flashy social media campaign. He joined after a nudge from his mother, who wanted him to “build connections” with other Chicago kids.
The program, which took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each week day of spring break, was led by nonprofit Project Unloaded in partnership with nonprofit After School Matters, which paid the teen participants $150.
Since 2023, the organization has run a six-week summer program where teens get more time to research gun violence statistics and create catchy social media videos. But the spring break program was a first for Project Unloaded, according to Nina Vinik, founder and president of Project Unloaded.
Project Unloaded focuses on social media creation because that’s where “young people today are going to find information,” Vinik said.
“All of our programs combine firearm risk education for young people with social media skill building, so we’re effectively teaching young people how to use social media as a way to make positive change in their communities,” she said.
Last year, 18.6% of the victims of fatal and non-fatal shootings in Chicago were 19 years old or younger, almost one percentage point higher than the year before but a drop from about 20% in 2023, according to city data.
A 2022 survey of 989 Chicago parents found that more than one-third of their children were exposed to gun violence, ranging from hearing gunshots to being shot. One-fifth of those children experienced mental health symptoms as a result.
Last week during Chicago Public Schools’ spring break, Owens and his peers showed up to the After School Matters offices in the Kilbourn Park neighborhood and learned some gun ownership statistics: People with a gun at home are twice as likely to be killed, according to a California study conducted in the 1990s. According to another study published in 2011, people who owned a gun were four times more likely to be shot during an assault compared with those who didn’t have a gun on them.
The teens then learned how to create effective social media campaigns that direct people to a website with more information on studies related to gun ownership. They spent a day with staff from iO improv theater to “come out of their shells,” said Olivia Brown, associate director of youth engagement at Project Unloaded who led the spring break program. They also watched videos from other content creators to learn that a good video has a hook, a main message, and then a call to action, Brown said.
“They were like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of like writing a persuasive essay,’” Brown said, who agreed with them. “It’s like, you got to get your reader, aka your viewer, on your side.”
The teens practiced shooting videos with their phones. Then, Project Unloaded’s digital strategist helped them create their final videos with his equipment.
On the Friday of spring break, the last day of their program, the teens presented their videos in groups of three or four. They walked up to the front of the room, some appearing shy, facing their peers and invited guests who included content creators.
Their videos, which lasted less than 30 seconds, will be added to an ongoing advertising campaign created by last summer’s cohort of teens, called “Goofies Got Guns.”
One group presented a video showcasing a fictional “Totally Safe News” network, where one of the participants played a correspondent who initially says owning a gun offers safety. Then, the screen bleeps out, and the correspondent fixes the newscast to say owning a gun doubles the risk of homicide.
“Facts don’t care about opinions,” the correspondent says.
Owens’ group made a video where the camera toggles between the teens playing a video game while they discuss the statistics associated with owning a gun.
In another group’s video, one of the teens says he owns a gun, and his peer walks up and puts a clown wig on him. The audience in the room laughed.
Vinik emphasized that they don’t “tell any young person what to do or what to think or what not to do,” rather, they want to arm them with information “to make the best decision that they can for themselves.”
The program did appear to change some of the teens’ minds: Project Unloaded representatives said they saw a 30% drop among the participants who are interested in owning a gun. One of them is Makayla Mason, 16, who’s a junior at Lane Tech High School, who said she considered buying a gun when she gets older.
“I wouldn’t even want to get one anymore,” she said.
Owens, who wants to be a boxer when he gets older, said the social media skills he learned could be useful in helping to promote himself one day.
As for gun ownership? The program didn’t change his mind: He’s still considering buying a gun one day.
“Now I just know the risks of it, which is good,” he said.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Reema Amin 2026-04-03 20:16:39
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