Summit enlists youth to help stem violence

A common complaint about many rallies and meetings held to address stopping youth violence in the Black community is that the youth are not present.
That was not the case Jan. 9 as students at Westinghouse High School joined members of the Black Political Empowerment Project and the Coalition Against Violence for a summit on ending the cycle of violence in a variety of its forms.
About 50 students gathered for the summit before splitting into break-out groups to generate discussion on bullying, dating violence and gangs. A fourth group looked at sports-related violence and how athletes can serve as positive role models.
The summit was the second held with Pittsburgh Public School students. The first, held in March, was at Brashear High School.
“It’s all about planting seeds,” said Brandi Taylor, who along with B-PEP Chair Tim Stevens, directed the summit. “If we keep doing that, maybe something will take root and these kids will do the right thing, stand up for someone, down the line.”
She said the idea is to put the students in the shoes of someone who has been a victim of violence, and ask them how they’d feel, how they’d react, and how they might stop it before it went too far.
One girl in the bullying session admitted to having a ‘hit list’ of people who’d bullied her. A fellow male student tried to explain to her that killing someone wouldn’t solve anything and would likely land her in jail for a long time.
Stevens, who moved between the sessions, said he was hearing a lot of good questions from the students, adding he hopes there are some answers.
“When I was growing up in the Hill, I didn’t know any of my peers who died of violence. I mean there were fights—but you lived,” said Stevens. “These kids, almost all of them have classmate who’ve been killed.”
KeShawn Brooks, a junior who took part in the gang session, said he thought the summit was a good idea and that he learned a few things, but at the end of the day, it might not achieve anything lasting.
“I think the kids got a lot of good information,” she said. “But the guys in the gangs—you can try to give them something else to do, but no matter what you tell them or what they learn, they’re going to do what they’re going to do.”
Erica Young and Rayven Green agreed.
“I learned some stuff. It was fun, but at the end of the day, nothing’s going to change,” said Young.
Taylor said questionnaires filled out by all the participants, and all the questions and answers they generated during the sessions will be collected and used to formulate additional material for the next summit.
“There are so many issues that go so deep, one or two conversations isn’t the be-all and end-all,” said Stevens. “In the meantime, we stand in the hope that one or two of these kids will keep some of this in their minds for when the next time something happens.”
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
 
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