Youth Forum on Safety and Mental Health

Nothing about youth, without youth.

Are our youth safe? An equally important question to ask: do youth themselves feel safe? In 2024, UCLA's Center for Scholars and Storytellers published their annual Teens and Screens study asking youth to describe their personal priorities. To the surprise of the researchers, far outpacing the want to be famous, rich, or even to have fun was their top concern: the need to feel safe. If one takes stock of the nascent rise of the hyper-digital age, increasing prevalence and desensitization to gun violence, and heightening isolation from community, youth feeling unsafe is a more than understandable conclusion.

The youth safety crisis, however, is nothing new; a concern among parents and pundits alike, even if it is not the conversation of the day, discussions on how to keep children safe is never too far from national prominence. What is unprecedented is youth getting the opportunity to speak to their perspective of what safety looks like and where we all can focus our efforts to making our communities more livable for them.

Join us as We Keep Us Safe, a youth community safety group reimagining public safety in Pittsburgh, collaborates with Pittsburgh 2050's Youth Working Group to lead two panels on community safety vs school safety and mental health. Pittsburgh area youth between the ages of 16 and 26 are strongly encouraged to attend. Experts, researchers, educators, and parents are warmly invited to attend, but youth voices will be prioritized. Light refreshments will be provided.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher 1Hood Media