On a recent school break, eight kids spent an hour talking about youth violence with the Center for Collaborative Journalism engagement reporter, Sonya Green. The youth talked about violence in their community and at school. One boy said that youth”get stressed over it and they don’t want to go to school and stuff. And then, like, their parents are stressed about it and they basically don’t want them to go to school either.”

The young people also talked about the role of media and law enforcement. “I think that law enforcement should find a way to prevent something before it happens instead of just finding the culprit after they’ve already killed someone. So, if there is a way that we can make the streets safer by you know, preventing the crimes before they even happen.”

On solutions to youth violence, one participant commented that “ being taught and educated on how you can disagree with someone without it resulting to violence”. Another said parental involvement is helpful and it  “doesn’t necessarily have to come from the parent. It can come from your next door neighbor, person down the street. The clerk at the corner store you know anybody.”

The students identity can not be shared but you can watch the video and hear more of what they had to say.

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