Vice News took a trip to Los Angeles to speak with teenagers about their traumatic experiences around gang violence.  PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is mostly associated with war veterans, but it isn’t restricted to just veterans because with all of the killings going on in our streets, even children are exhibiting signs of PTSD.

With how advance today’s youth are, it is easy to forget they are still children and not fully developed, and trauma can stunt their development.  But it’s especially sad for Los Angeles youth because this has been going on since the 80’s.  This is just another by-product of crack cocaine.  Crack not only destroys its abusers lives, but it gives gangs financial means to expand their reign of terror.

Who knows if there is some grand conspiracy to destroy the inner city, or if it was the a natural chain of events, but this isn’t going away.  The cycle needs to be broken and these children need to become a priority.  If these children are forgotten they will continue to feed there problems to the next generation and the cycle will never be broken.  Unfortunately, they will probably not receive the attention they need because California as a state is in financial crisis.

Watch Vice News Documentary

Vice News: PTSD from Gang Violence

If  you know a child experiencing PTSD or want to know the symptoms CLICK HERE (from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)