Advocates say gun violence is trending younger. Here's why they're not surprised

It's an attack that has left a school, community and a city shaken — the fatal shooting of Grade 12 student Jahiem Robinson in what police described as an "execution" inside his school.

The accused is a 14 year old who police can't name under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

It's not the first killing in recent months involving young people. Earlier this week, Toronto police said ​​one third of homicides in the first two months of this year involved victims or accused under the age of 20. Police said the average age of those linked to gun violence last year was 20, down from 25 in previous years.

"The kids are getting younger and we have never seen before this.  This is not normal," said Sureya Ibrahim, founder of Mothers of Peace, a group that helps mothers who have lost children to gun violence.

Ibrahim and others who work with vulnerable youth say as horrific and tragic as every homicide is, they're not surprised by the escalation in youth violence. They say a combination of the pandemic, a lack of mental health supports and other systemic issues have taken a toll on the community and more needs to be done.

'A trickle effect leading to violence'

"I think in the community, we were unfortunately anticipating this," said Zohra Rahman. 

She's the director at Youthlink, a children's mental health agency in Scarborough. The centre offers various programs and supports for vulnerable youth.

"Poor mental health and the lack of support and being in a lockdown for so long ... it was going to have a trickle effect leading to violence."

Rahman said a lot of their in-person outreach was replaced with virtual programming, which is hardly the same.

"We know some of the really hard to reach youth. They're not going to connect virtually."

That pattern isn't specific to Scarborough. Abdulkadir Nur works as a provincial outreach officer for the Jane-Finch Centre helping youth make the right choices with education, employment and other issues.

"A lot of the programming that we did have available ... pre-COVID definitely helped youth out a lot. It  gave them somewhere to be after school, that gave them somewhere to be on the weekends," said Nur.

"I kind of feel like [the pandemic] has taken a huge toll because if they're not able to have those experiences here where they used to have them ... they may search for them elsewhere."

Mental health and rehabilitation

Nur said one of the biggest issues right now is a lack of mental health supports for young racialized men.

"Sometimes the violence isn't necessarily because they're violent people. They may feel that they have no other choice, they may feel they have no other way of expressing themselves," said Nur.

"Not everybody has the knowledge of what mental health is or what ... coping mechanisms may look like."

Advocates say every time there is a shooting or a death, it has ripple effects on an entire community.

"A lot of these communities have unresolved trauma and grief, along with the lack of positive male role models who they can identify with," said Zya Brown, founder and director of the group Think2wice, a group that provides programming for  young people who are incarcerated or who are from communities affected by gun violence.

Brown says one of the key issues related to gun violence in communities is a lack of programming for young people in jail or prison.

"What we really need to focus on is providing support for people who are inside because they're coming out and the issues are still continuing," said Brown.

"A lot of them do want to help and give back. But there's no support for them."

Brown said having a mentor is key for young vulnerable youth — but not just any mentor. She said it's not just about someone who looks like them or comes from the same neighbourhood, but someone who has had similar experience.

 She said those who have spent time incarcerated — if given the right support and programming — could be an invaluable resource.

"We need to make sure that they have the support they need so that they can turn their life around and be involved in prevention and intervention programming."

'How many lives do we have to lose?'

Under its SafeTO 10 year strategy, the City of Toronto says it plans to expand a program that helps residents affected by violence, including shootings, stabbings and gang-related activity.

The city also plans to create the Toronto Office to Prevent Gun Violence to co-ordinate firearms policy and prevention measures.

But advocates like Ibrahim say it's time all levels of government start dedicating more resources to grassroots organizations trying to make a difference through mental health supports and other programming.

"We need to talk about all of the wraparound programs and services to help those young people and the families … They need to start it immediately," said Ibrahim.

 "How many lives do we have to lose in order to stop this violence?"