What can you do to stop violence?
By ESTHER J. CEPEDA
Chicago Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/1845558,CST-EDT-esther26.article
October 26, 2009
Let's talk. Let's really talk about this problem of youth violence that is tearing us -- not just certain families and classrooms, but all of us -- apart.
Last Thursday, yet another unthinkable heartbreak occurred. A 17-year-old Chicago boy was killed in the middle of a drizzly afternoon, walking home from school. Police said some guy just walked up to him and shot him.
A few weeks ago, the White House had to send in the U.S. secretary of education and the U.S. attorney general because, seemingly, Chicago is ground zero in an escalating catastrophe involving poor kids in tough neighborhoods that's beyond local help.
But it's not. The helplessness you and I feel when we hear about the latest tragedy -- whether a shooting or an unspeakably brutal beating -- is an illusion that serves only to keep us from even contemplating the thought that insistently wakes me up some mornings: "What can I, personally, do to keep Chicago kids from getting killed on our streets?"
No one would fault you for coming to the conclusion that volunteering to serve as a cafeteria monitor at Fenger High School's lunchroom is out of the question.
But it's so much simpler than that: Just ask the question -- "What can I do?" -- out loud.
And I don't mean by posting a frustrated message on a news story comment board or kvetching to your seatmate on the bus that poor teens might simply be a lost cause.
I mean ask a teen.
"If you want to help, talk to young people," said Hilda Franco, a youth organizer at the Chicago Freedom School, a center for youth-led social change that works to get adults and teens to build understanding of current social problems and create coalitions. She teaches a monthly class there on how to think respectfully about, and act respectfully toward, young people.
"There isn't enough space for young people or adults to think and talk about violence in their own life, of how it exists and whether they choose that part of themselves, and no one is asking," Franco said.
If gearing up for a deeply philosophical inquiry with a teen is too much to tackle at first, Franco told me, it's critical to start by simply seeking and listening.
"We've had to do a lot of work to teach teens how to create their own media and document their own stories because the media does not talk to young people," she said. "It's always adults writing the news articles and telling the stories."
Faults of the media aside, what's important is to turn our respectful attention to the experiences of young people -- whether they're "at-risk" or not.
It's the only way to create a space where understanding can begin.
I find people really undervalue just talking openly and honestly about fears and concerns, and that's doubly true when it comes to talking to teenagers -- about anything, really. Popular culture, TV sitcoms and slapstick movies have reduced adults' ideas of the teenage temperament to a small handful of stereotypes.
How could anyone over 21 hope to meaningfully contribute to solving the puzzle of how to secure the passage of the city's future to the actual future through that sort of lens?
"People just don't want to talk about it or think about it, and that's going to continue the cycle," Franco said. "If we keep ignoring teens and this issue, we're ignoring a really, really big thing. We need this city's adults to step up and become allies to the young."
Give it some thought.
Open your mouth.
And if you can't find a young person who trusts you enough to talk honestly about how teen violence makes him (or her) feel and what he would do about it, start by searching for the answer within yourself.
How could anyone over 21 hope to meaningfully contribute to solving the puzzle of how to secure the passage of the city's future to the actual future through that sort of lens?
Posted by: | February 22, 2010 at 09:05 AM
Great piece. It's up to us if we want the violence to stop. It's not enough to say "that's terrible," and shrug our shoulders. I think your suggestion of creating space for young people to talk about their experiences and respecting what they have to say is a great one. I think these problems with violence are really connected to jobs and housing and poverty. If you own a business, consider hiring a teen for the summer or as an intern. Consider sponsoring a mentoring or tutoring program. Invest in a community development corporation that provides stable housing. We need to think about how separated we are from the violence and poverty these kids experience and start bridging that gap.
Again, important topic. We need to keep it on the table so we don't forget.
Posted by: Megan Cottrell | October 29, 2009 at 01:42 PM