Boys of color were hit hard by COVID and gun violence. Schools are doing little to help.

As students across the country wrestled with pandemic stress last winter, sophomore Nathaniel Martinez logged on to a virtual retreat. Forty mostly Black and Latino teens in Chicago were getting a crash course on gauging how their peers were coping. 

They also opened up about pressures they faced amid the COVID-19 outbreak and an increase in gun violence, including depression and disengagement from school. 

Nathaniel spoke about struggling to focus in virtual classes as he grappled with isolation and insomnia.  

The project offered Nathaniel a support group of sorts as he returned to full-time in-person learning this fall, short on credits but bent on regaining his footing. It also gave him an active role in reimagining how schools can better help teens of color.