The Issue of Gun Violence As One of The Leading Causes of Death in America

“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you”, in Englewood words can get you killed. Gun violence in America is one of the leading causes of death for individuals under the age of 34. When words can escalate to bloodshed, change is long overdue. Some of the violence in these communities rival that of some violent countries. Every individual is entitled to a safe and healthy community, but with this entitlement comes responsibility. In the year 2000, Operation Ceasefire was created, an anti-violence program that was made to neutralize hostile situation before they accelerated to bloodshed and to bring awareness in the community about peaceful solutions. Employees of the Ceasefire, also known as interrupters, worked on the streets, negotiating conflicts between gangs and other trouble youths, to prevent killings and retaliatory shootings. Ceasefire proved to be a successful in some smaller communities, but this is a much larger problem that requires the assistance of our government, pastors, aldermen, teachers, and other cornerstone members of the community. As a community, we must take responsible for our environment and come up with creative ideas to resolve this epidemic.

Ceasefire’s founder and Executive director, Gary Slutkin, is an epidemiologist and a physician who studied and battled infectious diseases in Africa. His belief is that violence in America imitates diseases like tuberculosis and AIDS. Slutkin suggested the best way to address the problem is to treat it like a disease, by going after the most infected and to stop the infection by the source. Operation Ceasefire Model went after the infection, by using former gang members as, interrupters, to defuse situations before they became violent. Because of the street creditability of these former gang members, this allowed better communication with current gang members and troubled youths to resolve possible conflicts in a peace manner. The Ceasefire approach to street violence was detection and interruption of planned violent activity, behavior change of high risk people, and changing the community mindset. Professor Wesley G. Skogan is an expert on crime and policing at the Northwestern University and he did a three year independent study that indicated that CeaseFire reduced shootings in the small communities that they were assigned.

As Gary Slutkin suggested one of the best ways to treat the disease is to stop the infection at the source. It is our youth, our next generation that is being destroyed. Why, because they are so angry and have not been taught the proper coping skills to deal with stressful situations. The first lines of defense are the parents. We have to be good role models for our youth, our children are not expendable. We have to nurture, talk and listen to our children. As parents we also need educate, instill in them the value of life, and teach them coping skills. The next step would be community involvement, we have to reestablish the relationship with our neighbors. If we get to know our neighbors we form bonds, earn respect for one another, and care for one another’s children. Most important is the social leaders of the neighborhood, teachers, pastors, alderman, councilmen, etc. These jobs are not the most glamorous nor pay the most money, but as adults we make the choice to fill these positions. As adults we choose these positions to make a difference in our community, but they have to do more than just talk loud and issue empty promises. Businesses and government need to unite an build more community centers and support afterschool activities beyond just sports. If we want save our community we must do more than talk, scream, and shout, were have to become creative and act.

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