Strategies In Development To Reduce Youth Violence In/Around: West Central

There are a world of ideas that could possibly reduce youth violence. The West Central neighborhood aims to try every one.

Several school officials, agency representatives and neighborhood residents gathered Monday night at the West Central Community Center to follow up on a March 30 forum on youth violence.

A report issued on the March meeting noted some causes of youth violence: the breakdown of family structure, the influence of drugs and alcohol, violent media, and the breakdown of societal values.

To solve these problems, forum organizers concluded that government programs need to be evaluated on how policies strengthen family and community, volunteers and mentors need a stronger presence, and “an aggressive community effort must be undertaken to reduce the exposure children and youth have to television and films with violent content.”

To develop specific strategies, some 30 residents split into working groups and assigned someone to research or act on each proposal.

Among the actions:

The group on media violence has decided to lobby state and federal officials for an on-screen rating of videos and television shows so parents who miss the beginning of a show can walk in anytime and evaluate its appropriateness.

The group looking at courts and public safety would like a stronger volunteer presence in juvenile court, possibly to mentor kids and help handle the huge backload of cases. The group’s members also want to see better curfew laws written and enforced.

The school group wants an education program for parents to learn computers so they can monitor what their kids are doing and feel more adequate as role models.