What Can We Do to Prevent Violence?

What can I do?  

Many of us at Lurie Children’s have heard this question the past week—in our hallways, commuting to and from work and at our kitchen tables. The murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee and the release of the video of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald have led to a new sense of urgency for Chicagoans. We know how you feel. Anxious. Uneasy. Eager for change. But what can we do?

The short answer: it’s time for each of us to roll up our sleeves.

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Focus on Five

With the goal of educating and raising awareness on effective ways to reduce and prevent youth violence, SCY encourages everyone to take action to prevent violence through our Focus on Five:

• Sustained Investment in children and youth
• Equitable access to high quality mental health services
• Common sense approaches to gun violence prevention
• Juvenile justice system that reflects what we know about adolescent development
• Sustained investment in strong communities

Download and share SCY's Focus on Five.

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U.S. Surgeon General visits Chicago

The U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral (VADM) Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA visited Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago to attend a meeting hosted by Health & Disability Advocates. The primary topic of the meeting was community-centered collaborative approaches to violence prevention. SCY will continue to raise national awareness of the great violence prevention work being done in Chicago during the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (Oct. 31-Nov. 4). If you plan to attend and want SCY to share information about your work with national partners, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., SCY Director. 

Public Health Perspectives: The Gun Violence Epidemic