Mother’s Day is meant to be a time to celebrate the hard work and dedication that our mothers and next of kin put into raising us to be strong, fair-minded adults. The random violence that happened on Sunday in New Orleans during a second line parade made the meaning of this special holiday a farce when seemingly random gunfire erupted, injuring 19 innocent people. Police still have no motive in the crime and likely will never find one. Unfortunately, for many young people in the New Orleans area, human life has little meaning and violence often seems like just another form of entertainment.
One victim in the shooting said she believes community engagement and educational programs would help cut down on crime. The law enforcement community in St. John the Baptist Parish had a similar idea in organizing this year’s Law Day, which saw area students writing about ways to curb violent crime in the parish.
Seventh-grader Kevin Williams said in his first-place winning essay that there should be more afterschool programs available to keep adolescent age children busy because this age group is too old to be in day care, but too young to be left all alone after school.
“Many are left to themselves with plenty of opportunity to get caught up with the wrong crowd,” Williams wrote. The student also suggested that the community be more cooperative with local law enforcement to help take drugs off of the streets and encourage more activity on tip lines.
While writing about something and actually putting it into practice are two vastly different matters, exercises such as this get young people to start thinking about their place in society and what they can do to make the community in which they live a better place. With the thought planted, it is now up to parents, teachers and other
community members to water those seeds so they can blossom into their fully realized potential.