Educating Kids about Gun-violence (EKG) is a youth gun-violence education and prevention program. EKG works to prevent youth gun violence by educating students about the legal, medical, and emotional consequences of youth gun possession and related gun violence, as well as encouraging young people to consider options and choices available to them in situations involving guns.
The EKG program was originally developed under the name Options, Choices, and Consequences (OCC) in Seattle. OCC evolved from a partnership among the Seattle Public School District, the Seattle Police Department, the King County Prosecutor's Office and the Washington State Medical Association. From OCC, Gun-violence Information For Teens (GIFT) was designed and used in Sacramento, CA. It was then developed into the Educating Kids about Gun-violence (EKG) program for Indianapolis by the community prosecution division of the Marion County Prosecutor’s office. Through a generous grant from Indiana Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and the hard work of the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT), EKG has undergone some technological upgrades and evolved into the program that it is today. It is a partnership between the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Wishard Hospital Trauma Center, the Indiana Department of Education and other agencies within Marion County.
EKG Indianapolis implements the materials, concepts and philosophy of the GIFT program in Sacramento with an Indianapolis focus. EKG Indianapolis is an approximately two-hour, interactive classroom presentation by an EKG Team: a police officer/sheriff deputy, a prosecuting attorney, and a fire department/medical professional. Through the use of videos, photographs, slides, case scenarios, personal stories, and small group discussion, the team educates the students about the medical and legal consequences of gun possession and related violence. The curriculum encourages young people to consider the options available to them in situations involving guns.
Since the first presentation in 2002, the EKG Program has been presented to over 3,000 youth in Marion County.
First Part (1st Hour): Legal Consequences
During the first segment, students view a video taped story of “Darryl and Jessie”. The story is about two friends who are arrested and prosecuted after Darryl brings a gun to school and shoots another student. Jessie becomes involved by taking the gun from Darryl after the shooting.
During breaks in the video, the deputy prosecutor engages the students in discussion about the choices and options available to Darryl and Jessie throughout the story. The prosecutor also discusses the laws that apply and the penalties of those laws.
Second Part (2nd Hour): Medical Consequences
The second portion begins with the law enforcement officer introducing the topic of youth gun-violence to the students. Some myths of gun violence and national statistics on youth victimization by gun violence are used to engage the students in the topic of gun-violence. The introduction continues with a discussion of some local and personal situations involving young people and guns by the law enforcement officer. The officer discusses the facts of these cases with the students and talks about what happened to all of the people involved.
After the introduction by the officer, the medical professional follows with several stories about young people who have been injured or impacted by gunshot trauma. These scenarios allow the medical professional to dispel the common myths about gun trauma. Those myths include the idea that people either die or totally recover from gunshot wounds (permanent disabling injuries usually aren’t considered), gunshot trauma does not hurt, and guns are an effective way of dealing with conflict.
The medical professional discusses the immediate and long-term physical and emotional consequences of gunshot injuries. The law enforcement officer and medical personnel involve the students in conversation about the options the people in the stories had, and the choices they could have made. Actual emergency room photos or slides of the gunshot trauma victims augment the stories. The medical personnel also show the students the equipment, as well as emergency room “tools of the trade” such as catheters, tracheal tubes, and colostomy bags.
-Presentations are available in both English and Spanish. To schedule an EKG presentation or for more information please contact Cory Ladipo at (317) 327-6258.