LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's violence is impacting some of the city's youngest children, according Jerron Jones, a local behavioral therapist.
Jones primarily works with children. He said some of them are suffering secondary trauma from gun violence.
"Maybe that kiddo or that adolescent or teenager hasn't been a direct survivor of a gunshot, but just because they may hear it in their neighborhood or they have a loved one who's been impacted by that, it hurts," said Jones.
He said some of these children are too young to properly verbalize how they feel and end up with behavioral issues of acting out.
"But what it is is a cry for help saying 'Hey, when I go home every evening, I may hear gunshots.' And to normalize that for a 3,4,5 year old, it's sad," said Jones.
Jones also said some children experience feelings of isolation because of fear.
"It's become kind of normalized that I'm hearing a child talk about how they have to duck or take cover in their bedroom at 10 p.m. at night," he said.
Jones said he also works with some perpetrators of violence.
"I think that's also difficult," he said.
"The major commonality is both the survivor and perp are being younger," Jones continued to say.
Christie Welch, deputy director for the Christopher 2X Game Changers organization, said there needs to be a difference made in how some children view themselves.
"They feel like they're doing what they need to do to protect their lives. So we as a community have to start addressing how these kids see their life," said Welch.
Welch herself knows the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. She now works with Game Changers and Voices of Survivors to help other families cope with similar losses.
"This is such a lived experience and reality for so many people my age it's like we understand gun violence but at the same time we kind of have this numbness to it, so it's just normal," she said.
Jones also said kids need to be held accountable and believes early intervention is important.
If you or your family is looking for services, Jones can be reached at jerronjones@yahoo.com.
For information on Game Changers click here.
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