Four high school students led a community session at Youth Alive headquarters in Oakland, using a PowerPoint titled "Root Causes of Violence." The youth leaders set ground rules—"be respectful," "don't be judgmental," "only one speaker at a time"—and invited attendees to describe what violence looks, sounds, and feels like. Attendees shared sensory and emotional responses, including gunshots, tires screeching, candles marking deaths, and feelings of anxiety and jumpiness. Youth leaders connected violence to poverty, lack of jobs, unaffordable housing, and unmet basic needs that can push people toward crime for survival. The youth referenced two to three years of training and education through Youth Alive.
After priming the event with some ground rules - "be respectful," "don't be judgmental," "only one speaker at a time" - the high schoolers, referred to as "youth leaders" by Youth Alive, asked the audience what violence looks, sounds, and feels like to them.
The youth leaders offered their own thoughts to kick things off. "For me, it can sound like arguing, or maybe gunshots, fights, car crashes," said Meliza, a 17-year-old Fremont High student. Torrian, a 17-year-old Skyline High School student, said that to her, violence sounds like feet stomping - "like when a fight just started, and everybody's just running to watch." For 16-year-old Amani, a Fremont High School student, violence makes her feel "anxious, scared, nervous, paranoid," she said.
Soon enough, attendees jumped in with their own answers: "Violence sounds like tires screeching past after a hit-and-run." "It looks like candles in my neighborhood, where someone was killed." "It makes me feel jumpy." Zion, a 16-year-old Fremont High student and youth leader, moved on to the next slide. "So now that we know what violence looks, sounds, and feels like," she said, "why do you think violence happens in your community?" The youth leaders went on to describe the connection between violence and poverty, and how the lack of job opportunities, affordable housing, and other basic needs can turn people to criminal activity in order to survive. They drew on the training and education they've received in the two to three years they've been involved with Youth
Collection
[
|
...
]