TEENS TACKLE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE

While youth of all backgrounds are victims of violence, black youth seem to be at the epicenter of Indianapolis's rising crime rate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list homicide as the leading cause of death for blacks nationwide from ages 10 to 24.

Indiana had the third-highest rate of black homicides among all states in 2006, according to a study by the Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit research group that supports gun control.

And last year in Indianapolis, 64 percent of all homicide victims were black.

Black youth in Indy talked with Y-Press about the violence they've experienced.

Breana Caldwell had her window shot out at home, and she hears shots in her neighborhood every year in the weeks surrounding Independence Day. Pebbles Mean's uncle was beaten by a gang and ended up on life support. After losing their father to gun violence, Charity and Robert Hall witnessed their neighbor being shot in the head -- on their front porch.

Why are black youth affected by violence more than kids from other ethnic backgrounds?

Aaron Williams, a young black college student and youth worker at the Christamore House, thinks there are several reasons.

"Television shows and the kind of music we listen to play a huge role in crime in the community," he said. "The violence that music and other forms of media portray becomes children's mentors and infiltrates into their minds like it's a way of life."

He said more black parents need to get involved in their children's lives. But he understands that isn't easy. So many kids come from single-parent homes, and those single parents are working so much of the time.

Williams and others think youth activism may be a key to stemming violence.

As the Peace in the Streets coordinator at the Christamore House, Williams suggests that youth get "involved in their schools, churches and community centers to become a part of something positive."

"Get involved and make a personal commitment to seeing change brought about you. And, you be the first to make that change."

Alexis Bingham, 17, junior, Warren Central High School

Over the summer, my brother, Tyrell Shotwell, was robbed and killed. He was only 17. The guys got in the car with him, and they shot him. Then . . . they put a brick on the pedal and caused the car to flip over. I don't know if this was a random act of violence or tied to him; I think there might have been a connection through his friends. The police are still investigating.

It just changed the way I look at people. It's as if there aren't any more good people out there any more.

I think the cause of all the violence is parents not being tough with their children. Too many parents are trying to be teenagers like their children, and there are not enough of them taking their parent roles seriously.

If teachers and the individuals in our neighborhood would start acting like they care, that would help prevent violence, too. If they see a child who is evidently disturbed, they should ask, "How are you doing? Do you need somebody to talk to?" It would just be so good for a child to know that somebody is caring.

The police worry too much about the small stuff. For example, there are little boys, maybe 10 or 11, walking around with guns in their hands, and the police don't stop them or arrest them. I told parents that their sons were carrying guns, and they were shocked. There are problems with drugs in the neighborhood, but I've never seen police arresting any of them, either.

Drug dealers are like roaches. They multiply. If you see one of them, there are 20 of them in the back.

Charity Hall, 16, sophomore, Ben Davis High School Robert Hall, 18, senior, Ben Davis High School

CHARITY: Our father died from gun violence. I was 3 years old when he died.

ROBERT: He got shot at our home; he was being robbed.

CHARITY: I really didn't understand as a young child, but as the years progressed, I began to think about gun violence. I see how much it affects our community nowadays, especially in the area we live in. The worst violence I've ever seen was outside our house.

Dealers were selling drugs in front of our neighbor's house across the street, and the man who lived there asked them to leave multiple times. When they didn't, he came to our house and asked to use our phone to call the police. The dealers came to our yard and demanded that the neighbor come out. Then one of them shot him. He came on our front porch, bleeding with the bullet in his head. . . . We never saw him again after he left for the hospital. We don't know if he moved or died.

ROBERT: Seeing somebody die used to really trigger something in an individual person and make 'em want to step up. But nowadays when somebody gets shot, they just say, "Dang, there's another person getting shot."

Now it takes a big collective effort of people working together. When they go out and spread the word, it really touches people 'cause they see that a lot of people really want change. For example, last summer, everyone in the neighborhood saw and supported all these kids with signs walking down the streets, saying: "Peace in the streets!" and handing out candles in the middle of the night. It gave kids a sense of security to see so many people supporting them. They saw that they had people there who they could call and talk to.

CHARITY: As far as the youth, I believe that we should give them even more programs or more things to do besides going out on the streets. The Christamore House is a community center to help people. They get the youth involved in different programs, and it also helps with pregnancy and problems that happen to teens.

ROBERT: It really strengthens the neighborhood when you have more police and law enforcement, too, but . . . a lot of teens, especially black males, think police officers provoke and pick on them on purpose.

There's another side, too: One man raised in this neighborhood grew up to be a police officer. He talked to young people in the neighborhood and told us about himself, but he wasn't in uniform. He left the room, and about five minutes later he came back in his police uniform. He asked: "If I had come in here with this uniform the first time, would ya'll have opened up to me the same way?" The teens admitted that they probably wouldn't.

It's still good that we have more police nearby. The reaction time is a lot quicker than it used to be and stops a lot of bad things from happening.

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PEACE IN THE STREETS

The Peace in the Streets 2007 Non-violence Youth Summit will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. April 5 at Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School, 1140 Dr. Martin Luther King St. For more information, contact Olgen Williams at owilliams@christamore house.org.

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WANT TO READ MORE PERSONAL STORIES AND SUGGEST YOUR OWN SOLUTIONS?

For a week at IndyStar.com/ voices, and later at www.ypress .org, there will be additional personal stories about young blacks, the violence they've witnessed and solutions they propose.

Read about Brandon Long, now a father of three, who was 18 when he was with a friend who was shot and killed; and Pebbles Means, a freshman at Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School, whose uncle was beaten by a gang and robbed, ending up on life support.

Also, you can learn about Mattie Weiss, the author of "Youth Rising," a report that explores ways youth have organized to make the world better.

Finally, read about eighth-grade activists from The Children's House school, who are revitalizing an old lot so that children have a place to play in a congested neighborhood.

You may also comment and share other stories of youth violence with other Web users and provide your ideas and opinions about peace solutions.

These stories were prepared by: Ben Dorson, 17; Allison Gardner, 16; and Jonathan Gainer, 14, all editors; Keenen Brannon, 13, reporter; and Olivia Haynes, 16; Tommy Mangan, 10; Tommaso Verderame, 13; and Perri McKinley, 17, contributors.

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Who we are

Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

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