Crime and violence perpetuated by youth growing up in America’s urban neighborhoods are destroying their lives and transforming our neighborhoods into dens of crime and violence. Our young males appear to have no respect for their neighborhoods or the people who reside in them. They seem to have no regard for their own lives and very little regard for the lives of others. Is getting arrested and serving time in jail some kind of Rights of Passage for young black men in our community?
For more than 40-years, beginning in 1964 with Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society Programs,” social programs have been developed to address the need for opportunities that focuses on presenting urban youth with alternatives to the streets. The exacerbation of this self destructive behavior among this segment of the population is an indication that “best practices” social services initiatives have had limited success. In addition, the dismal failure of Miami’s curfew has shown that police initiatives are clearly not the answers.
Well now is not the time to give up. When one method doesn’t prove to be effective, its time to go another direction. If social service intervention has failed and recreation programs are no longer effective, its time for innovation. New ideas based on the current practices of our youth. When was the last time we sat a young man down to ask him what he was missing in his life? Ask a young woman what kind of programs would she like to be involved in? Our youth is falling and that means we are failing. Lets work with our young people to improve their mindsets, their behaviors, and their lives.
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