Precious Lives

Stories about kids, guns and how to stop the violence. Precious Lives, created by 371 Productions, is a 2-year, 100-part weekly radio series about gun violence and young people in the Milwaukee area. The series applies a public health lens to each story to help listeners understand the full scope of the problem: who are the victims and the shooters; how are the weapons obtained; and what can we change about the environment that contributes to violence in Milwaukee?

#024 Precious Lives: Trauma Training Makes Way for Learning

WUWM 89.7 FM

Published June 23, 2015 at 11:11 AM CDT

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Trauma Sensitive School Project at Northwest Catholic

Carrie King

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Drum Circle at Northwest Catholic

Carrie King

When we lose someone in Milwaukee to gun violence, there's a radiating impact. Take 5 year old Laylah Petersen. She was killed inside her home. The result of a driveby shooting. Laylah was a daughter, a granddaughter, and a friend. She attended Northwest Catholic school. Dozens of her classmates had to cope with her loss, and return to school and try to focus.

A new program recognizes how exposure to violence can affect a child's ability to learn. WUWM's Mitch Teich spoke with Drs. Carrie King and Tammy Scheidegger. They piloted the Trauma Sensitive School Project at Laylah's school.