As a Chicagoan I have a very heavy heart. The senseless beating death of Derrion Albert touched my soul. He was a 16 year old honor student who was not involved in gangs and such. He appeared to be an all around good kid looking forward to going to college. It has been reported that he just got caught in the cross fire between two different factions of kids. This all happened outside of school on school grounds. As the mother of a 17 and 15 year old I seriously worry about them getting a quality education but also about their physical safety. I worry about all of the kids. I want them all to grow up happy, healthy, and whole.
Please be advised the video is pretty graphic.
Today the DOJ held a news conference in Chicago regarding youth violence some of the statistics are just as chilling as the above video. Eric Holder said the following:
The Department of Justice is releasing a new study today that measures the effects of youth violence in America, and the results are staggering. More than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence in the past year, either directly or indirectly. Nearly half of children and adolescents were assaulted at least once, and more than one in ten were injured as a result. Nearly one-quarter were the victim of a robbery, vandalism or theft, and one in sixteen were victimized sexually link.
As I was thinking about writing this diary I thought about some of the things that my family has been going through lately with my oldest son. He's 17 years old and trying to figure out who he is and his place in the world. Their father is strong with the guys when he needs to be, but he is also giving and compassionate. We are trying to guide our sons and help them to figure out the answers to those questions. I'm tying our experiences with our teens to a possible reason for why all this violence is happening in our urban communities. People will pin it on lots of things socio-economic, culture, bad parenting, videos/music/movies etc. I guess to some degree all have played a part. But, I think it's more than just that. I read an article today that just made me ask myself are we missing the point of what's happening with our youth. The journalist noted this link:
For 16-year-old Chicago student Derrion Albert, September 24, 2009 was supposed to be just another day of learning Math, English and an assortment of other subjects befitting a Sophomore Honor Student attending Christian Fenger Academy High School located on Chicago’s Southside. Unfortunately for Derrion, September 24, 2009 turned out to be the day that "Death" disguised in the form of a senseless and ruthless beating, inflicted by a group of remorseless "wanna be" thugs, came and prematurely extinguished the life of a young man who was loved and respected by both family and friends.
At first blush you read that and you go yeah that's right...those kids are thugs and hooligans and they should be locked up!! And, yes they must face the consequences of their actions. But I'm saddened because how did they become this way? Believe it or not parents play a big role but they don't play the only role in shaping a child into who they will eventually become. So, I wonder whose all shaping and guiding these kids in answering the questions of "who am I", "Am I important", "do I really matter", "what is my place in the world" and so forth. Is having to be hard on the streets a way to get that respect? To feeling important? To feeling like you matter when everything else in that world says the answer to those questions are no? No you don't matter. You often hear people say "I grew up poor with a single parent (maybe no parent) and I wasn't violent so there is just no excuse". I've often tried to explain that it is not about being just poor and not having the ideal family life. It's also about the lack of hope. HOPE. A four letter word seems small and over used. But for some that is the only reason to make it through the day. What's a world like without it? People not just teens who are desperate and/or hopeless I believe can do almost anything like beat a young 16 year old boy to death.
So, I had what I think was an epiphany. How do we get our kids to have HOPE and believe they are somebody with VALUE and in turn value others. President Obama has spoken of how he thinks we should extend the school year. I think that is a great idea and included in that should be one week out of the year teens must complete a teambuilding event. One week away from parents and friends where teens are required to depend on themselves and each other (in a controlled setting of course) in strong teambuilding exercises. Exercises that show them their inner strength, exercises that forces them to trust others and believe in others and value others, exercises that gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride. We can incorporate AmeriCorps volunteers to help with the excercise. Cap it off with a huge back to school party (Oprah can donate some back to school book bags full of good stuff)!! Then these exercises can be reinforced throughout the year maybe they can also include some real physical fitness into the program. So, if Arne Duncan really wants to incorporate some programs to help our youths I would think a program such as this and helping to subsidize the program for the parents who can't afford it that would be what I would think a great investment. We've got to change hearts and minds. Afterschool programs alone will not get this done.
Below is one of my favorite scenes from the movie "Remember the Titans". I think it sums up the spirit of what I think is needed and I think it applies here.
I would love to do something like this on a smaller scale in my hometown but I wouldn't even know where to begin (any suggestions let me know)!!This obviously won't solve all of the problems that these teens face but it would be a great place to start.