Most Baltimore teens look forward to summer’s warm days after the school year ends. But the season can bring a sense of anxiety and even dread as the city’s violence often ticks up — with it comes increased scrutiny on how teenagers and young adults spend their time.
And after a mass shooting at a block party in South Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood last weekend where the majority of the victims were teenagers, the need to create safe, welcoming spaces for young adults in the city has only become more urgent.
“Being in this city all my life, I know what it feels like to be looked at as a burden,” said Lawrence Summerville, 18, a member of the mayor’s Youth Advisory Council.
Baltimore’s teenagers say they want to be able to simply exist in their city and be viewed as whole people, with ambitions, passions and ideas. But as kids up to 17 face renewed enforcement of the…
