Circle 3: Youth Violence Prevention

  • Concerns
    • Ages 10-14 – desensitization
      • Lose interest in school, lack of parental presence, friend groups
    • Lack of home stability
    • What parents rely on to help raise kids (i.e. other friends, teachers, technology/social media)
    • Lack of time (for children)
    • Door management & value of truth
    • 80% of state is in persistent poverty
    • Not enough healthy environments for Jackson youth to thrive
    • Lack of spiritual grounding
    • “Youth” – who it is, lack of agreement
    • Same goal of creating safe spaces (victim of not)
    • Don’t have data driven results
    • Keeping youth involved in extracurriculars 
  • Solutions
    • “Inner city exposure”
    • Legislation & funding that are intentional about create safe spaces for youth & focus on family
    • Mentorship by men
    • De-stigmatizing certain professions
    • @ home guidance
    • Special school programs
    • Funding
    • More teachers & better paid 
    • Teaching trades and business education foundation

➡️ Read more stories from the Capital City Bureau here.

The mission of the Mississippi Free Press, a new nonprofit journalism website and multimedia network that launched in March 2020, is to publish deep public-interest reporting into causes of and solutions to the social, political and structural challenges facing all Mississippians and their communities. Mississippians need to know each other across regions and share our challenges and solutions despite geographic and other differences. We are introducing Mississippians to each other through our deep accountability reporting and compelling people-focused storytelling, and by convening online and physical “solutions circles,” using our statewide networks to ensure inclusivity and representation.