Sonali Rajan studies gun violence and responses to it in an educational context, and she believes the persistence of gun violence is a solvable problem. In looking at how this affects children (4:53), Rajan and other researchers are looking more closely at how the impact of gun violence and its related harms are understood and defined. She shares that this issue affects some communities disproportionately (9:38); for example Black children are almost four and a half times more likely to be exposed to gun violence than white children.

We asked Dr. Rajan how she processes both the news, and the emotional content of this subject both as a parent and as a researcher (11:49), and she shares her personal practices, the pockets of success that fuel her sense of possibility, and what gives her hope. The politics around this issue tends to center around what Rajan calls “school hardening measures” (14:43) but she calls our attention to the way investing in communities and practicing restorative justice in our schools both reduce gun violence, as well as benefiting communities and children in numerous other ways. 

Professor Rajan gives us an uplifting example in our collective response to drunk driving prevention (17:40). We ask what actions, investments or interventions she would like to see (21:52) and hear a layered response and broad vision that research shows would both improve our communities AND reduce gun violence.

You can find the full transcript here on the episode website, along with links to Professor Rajan’s work. 

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This series is created, hosted and produced by Joe Riina-Ferrie and Jen Lee, with audio production and original music by Billy Collins. "How's School?" is a production of The Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.