Youth Blog: Guns in America

You are here

​OSBHA Student Health Advocate Deza'Rae Collins was recently selected to participate in a journalism project with TIME magazine and Advance Local, devoted to exploring different perspectives about guns in America. Advance Local brought 21 citizens to Washington D.C. for a two-day intensive workshop on the weekend of the March For Our Lives protests.

Here, Deza'Rae shares about her experience in Washington D.C., and her views on guns as a public health issue:


I went to Washington D.C. during the March For Our Lives. It was for a journalism project that wanted to bring together different kinds of people with different perspectives for a conversation about 'guns in America’. The project purposefully took place during the march though to show the nation that there are people who are having more constructive and intellectual conversations about gun violence than what is being seen online and social media.

Personally, I joined the conversation because of the gun violence that is occurring in our nation throughout our schools, homes, families, shopping malls, public transportation areas. I believe it is a public health issue that needs to be solved while keeping in mind the complexity of the issue. I think a way to solve this epidemic is not just through banning guns but also addressing health issues like mental health, problems in the family, substance abuse, law enforcement reform, etc.

For more information on this project that Deza'Rae was involved with, visit: What Happens When You Reimagine the Difficult Conversation About Guns