New Study Shows the Heavy Toll Gun Violence Takes on the Mental Health and Daily Lives of American Youth and Demonstrates Efficacy of SNUG Campaign
Teens Who Saw the SNUG Snapchat Campaign Were 17 Points More Likely to Believe They’re Safer Unarmed and 21 Points More Likely to Talk to a Peer about Gun Risks
CHICAGO — Today, Project Unloaded, a gun violence prevention nonprofit focused solely on changing gun culture and spreading the message that guns make us less safe, unveiled new research into teenagers’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around guns and gun violence in the context of their daily digital and offline lives.
The research, conducted by ISG Research, evaluates the impact of Project Unloaded’s SNUG (Safer Not Using Guns) campaign with data from a comprehensive survey of 2,502 Snapchat users aged 13–17. The findings indicate a major opportunity to reach young people in the digital spaces where they spend their time, utilizing positive, fact-based messaging to address the inherent risks of firearm ownership and use.
“This research shows that Project Unloaded has cracked the code: our non-political, non-judgmental, fact-based SNUG campaign works,” said Nina Vinik, founder of Project Unloaded. “Our central message – that guns add risk – sticks. This is proof that we can change America’s deadly gun culture by inspiring future generations to choose safety over guns.”
Key Research Findings
1. SNUG Digital Campaign Effectively Shifts Teen Attitudes
The SNUG campaign successfully achieved high recall and specific message retention among its target demographic on Snapchat.
- High Message Recall: One in six (16%) Snapchat users surveyed reported awareness of the SNUG campaign. Unaided recall was exceptionally precise, with teens accurately citing core messages from the campaign, like “guns are the number 1 killer of kids and teens” and “having a gun in the house actually makes you less safe.”
- Safety Redefined: Campaign-aware teens were 17 points more likely to believe they are safer without guns and also more likely to agree that the risks of having a gun outweigh the benefits.
- Peer Engagement: Familiarity with the SNUG campaign makes teens far more willing to protect their peers, with 91% stating they are likely to share gun risk information with a friend, compared to 70% of peers who weren’t aware of the campaign.
2. Gun Violence Is a Regular Worry for Teens and Disrupts Their Daily Lives
The data demonstrate how the continuous threat of gun violence is impacting what it means to be young in America.
- Mental Health Toll: Nearly half (48%) of all surveyed teens state that gun violence negatively impacts their mental health. This burden escalates to 64% among teens who have personally experienced gun violence.
- Social Impact: Two in five teens (40%) have stayed home because of a gun violence threat, highlighting how the impact of gun violence goes far beyond the headlines.
- Pervasive Anxiety: 43% of respondents have felt anxious about gun violence in the last six months, and 27% think about it often. Black, Hispanic, and urban youth think about gun violence more frequently than youth overall.
- Online Exposure: 82% of teens have seen gun violence content on social media. 57% of 13-17-year-olds have seen someone being killed or otherwise harmed with a gun via social media.
3. Strong Teen Openness to School-Based Risk Education
While schools are primary locations for safety drills, teens expressed an overwhelming desire for proactive, offline education programs focused on firearm risks.
- High Interest in Education: An overwhelming 88% of teens are open to school-based education programs about gun risks and responsibilities, with 53% reporting high interest.
- Lockdown Drill Dilemma: 86% of students have experienced school lockdown drills, which leave many teens feeling prepared (52%) and many feeling anxious or nervous (48%).
- Systemic Gaps: Despite widespread drills, proactive safeguards are lacking. Fewer than half of schools currently offer mental health support (45%), anonymous reporting channels (43%), or gun risk education (33%).
4. Future Gun Ownership and Gaming
While there’s no evidence that playing violent video games causes gun violence, the research finds that teens who play first-person shooter (FPS) games are many of the same teens who are interested in future gun ownership.
- Connection to FPS Games: Half of all surveyed teens (50%) play first-person shooter video games weekly. Of those, 64% are open to future gun ownership – 12 points higher than overall teen interest in future gun ownership.
- Beliefs on Gaming and Guns: While 69% of teens believe playing video games does not influence their real-world views on guns, one in four (25%) acknowledge that gaming has made them more interested in owning or using a real firearm.
“Our generation carries an everyday anxiety about gun violence, whether it shows up on our social media feeds or in our schools,” said Anabelle Sanchez, a member of Project Unloaded’s Youth Council and a rising junior at Michigan State. “The SNUG campaign works because it doesn’t try to scare or intimidate anyone. Instead, it meets us on social media apps like Snapchat with content that feels like it’s made by a friend. The message is powerful because of the messenger – and because we’re sharing information that young people want to receive.”
The extended research brief is available on the Project Unloaded website.
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