Future Tense

It’s not that rare these days for teens to question whether they’ll have a future. In most cases, the doubts are related to climate change or other global issues. For others, the threat is much more imminent—and at close range. Those kids live in places where America’s gun violence scourge dominates and defines the teenage experience. “Like most teens, Rashad is impulsive and cares about impressing the people around him. He likes to wear cool clothes and crack jokes that make his friends laugh. His mentors recognize that behavior as normal for a 14-year-old. But they also understand that it would take only one bad decision to ruin Rashad’s life — or worse, end it.” WaPo (Gift Article): He’s 14. He’s been to five funerals. Can he avoid his own? (And yet, these kids encounter more efforts to ban books than guns.)