Philadelphia youth lead community conversation about violence prevention after weekend shootings
The conversation came days after a
violent weekend in Philadelphia
. There were seven shootings that injured a total of 13 people and killed two. Seven of the 13 injured were juveniles. A 17-year-old girl was also killed.
The program called The Group Chat: A Safe Philadelphia included dozens of students from the School District of Philadelphia.
"We have worked diligently to build more spaces for students to elevate their thoughts and ideas," said Aja Holden, who works with the district.
Davonti' Haynes, an assistant professor at Temple, helped lead the conversation. He says the mission is to also assist in connecting students to various resources.
"Because that is another issue that we see, which is something that some of the youth talk about, is that the opportunities are out there but they just don't know about them," he said. "Hearing directly from them adds a different level of power to it."
Despite the weekend violence, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel says the city has seen significant progress on crime. He says homicides involving youth are also down by 50% from last year.
Rickey Duncan, who is the founder of the NOMO Foundation, offers mentorship for young people as a violence prevention nonprofit in the city.
Duncan says the recent spike in violence shouldn't take away from the good work community-based organizations like NOMO are doing.
"It's working. Don't be discouraged about one bad weekend and let that ruin a whole great year. Let's continue to provide and pour into the cup," Duncan said. "Right now, it may be half-filled with a little room to go but it's no longer empty. So, let's continue to pour into the cup. Let's continue to be a part of the solution and not complain too much about the problem."
Duncan says he and others will continue to have boots on the ground to help the city's youth however they can.
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