Friday, April 7, 2023

"Gun violence is a public health crisis impacting the children, families, and communities Certified Child Life Specialists serve. Child life has a rich history of supporting the emotional safety of children and families, as every child deserves to feel safe in every aspect of their life. As advocates, condolences are not enough. The child life community is responsible for supporting the children and families they serve as they navigate these crises in their schools and communities."

-ACLP Policy Statement on Gun Violence Prevention & Safety  

From mass shootings to daily acts of gun violence, firearms are now the leading cause of premature death for children in the United States. ACLP recognizes that we must act now to stop this growing crisis. Here are four ways child life professionals can advocate against gun violence:

Download the ACLP Gun Violence Prevention Advocacy Toolkit. 

This free suite of resources is for those in the child life community to take action on gun violence. It includes scripts for contacting elected officials, social media templates, and free resources from ACLP and peer organizations.

Tell your members of Congress to support legislation to reduce gun violence.

Use ACLP sample scripts to call or email your elected officials. You can also review our Tip Sheet for best practices and find contact information for your officials. 

Spread the word: Share the ACLP Gun Violence Prevention social media templates across your social networks.

Use templates from the toolkit to amplify your advocacy. When posting on social media, research to see if a hashtag(s) is used by fellow advocates online. For example, use #EndGunViolence with social media for gun violence prevention. 

Submit an abstract on this topic for an ACLP Webinar, the Child Life Conference, or write an article for ACLP Bulletin. 

Share your expertise on this topic with the child life community.

As a child life community, it is time that we enact real solutions so that the children, families, and communities we serve no longer have to endure these traumatic events. 

Social media templates: