2008 Woodie Awards
Youth violence a concern of St. Joe's community and beyond
Gina Parisi '09
Issue date: 2/21/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On Thursday, Feb. 15, a lecture was held that discussed the growing problems of youth violence, in order to familiarize faculty and students of the St. Joe's community with this growing concern.
The lecture was run by Sally Black, Ph.D. One of the many problems she discussed was the issue of gun usage. The number of people with guns in their possession (legally and illegally) continues to rise and along with it the number of deaths caused by guns. Black stated, "It's almost like it is a part of our society and we accept it as a part of our society."
In reference to this increase in deaths, Black discussed some things that have been done in the past and can continue to be done in an effort to stop this problem. She mentioned that the government noticed this increase and decided that something had to be done. As a result, government organizations got together to evaluate the efficiency of over 600 programs that are designed specifically to fight this issue, to see which organizations were effective and which were not effective in achieving their goals. As it turned out, 12 of these programs have been proven to work in youth violence and reached what they call model status. Other than these special organizations, one aspect that seems to be effective in reducing the amount of violence is early childhood education of the dangers.
Besides the trouble with gun use, another issue that Black discussed was the growing number of gangs forming in our society. Although gangs are not limited to the inner cities, there is more of a concentration of them there then anywhere else. According to Black, many children join gangs in order to feel as if they are a part of something, to feel accepted. In many situations, children are initiated into a gang by doing some form of an illegal activity, and once they become a member, they are in it for life. In order to try and put an end to this, Black stated, "We need to step back and say what are the basic skills that kids need to survive on the streets."
According to Black, "We need to go back and say not how do we change it but what really works?" It is her personal opinion that when children take part in positive activities, such as sports, in many cases this participation helps to prevent children from getting involved in negative activities that include violence. However, in schools that lack funding, the first things that are taken out of the program are special activities like sports. Due to the fact that she believes these positive activities help prevent children from taking part in violence, Black believes that as time goes by and these problems worsen, schools are going to have to reconsider having pro-social programs involved in their curriculum.
The lecture was run by Sally Black, Ph.D. One of the many problems she discussed was the issue of gun usage. The number of people with guns in their possession (legally and illegally) continues to rise and along with it the number of deaths caused by guns. Black stated, "It's almost like it is a part of our society and we accept it as a part of our society."
In reference to this increase in deaths, Black discussed some things that have been done in the past and can continue to be done in an effort to stop this problem. She mentioned that the government noticed this increase and decided that something had to be done. As a result, government organizations got together to evaluate the efficiency of over 600 programs that are designed specifically to fight this issue, to see which organizations were effective and which were not effective in achieving their goals. As it turned out, 12 of these programs have been proven to work in youth violence and reached what they call model status. Other than these special organizations, one aspect that seems to be effective in reducing the amount of violence is early childhood education of the dangers.
Besides the trouble with gun use, another issue that Black discussed was the growing number of gangs forming in our society. Although gangs are not limited to the inner cities, there is more of a concentration of them there then anywhere else. According to Black, many children join gangs in order to feel as if they are a part of something, to feel accepted. In many situations, children are initiated into a gang by doing some form of an illegal activity, and once they become a member, they are in it for life. In order to try and put an end to this, Black stated, "We need to step back and say what are the basic skills that kids need to survive on the streets."
According to Black, "We need to go back and say not how do we change it but what really works?" It is her personal opinion that when children take part in positive activities, such as sports, in many cases this participation helps to prevent children from getting involved in negative activities that include violence. However, in schools that lack funding, the first things that are taken out of the program are special activities like sports. Due to the fact that she believes these positive activities help prevent children from taking part in violence, Black believes that as time goes by and these problems worsen, schools are going to have to reconsider having pro-social programs involved in their curriculum.
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