By Reema Amin
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.
Read more: https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/04/03/chicago-teens-learn-risks-about-gun-ownership/