Introduction
Every member of the community has a role that they can play to reduce the levels of violence among the youth. This paper is a study of the activities that the members of the community can engage in to assist this process. It also highlights ways of ensuring that children are not exposed to violence. Finally, the paper looks at how the community can ensure that the methods that are employed are effective.
Initiatives that will assist in rectifying the problems
Some of the actions that can be used to deal with gang activity among the youth include primary prevention programs where the law enforcement can collaborate with school administrations to teach the students about the dangers and effects of joining gangs. Others include secondary preventive initiatives which usually involve early intervention programs for young children (Howell, 2010). In these programs, children between the ages of 7 and 9, who display antisocial and disruptive behavior are identified and trained towards better childhood development skills (Howell, 2010). Moreover, there is an aggressive replacement training that usually targets youth who display excessively aggressive behavior whereby they undergo anger control and moral reasoning training (Howell, 2010).
How can the negative effects of violence on children be lessened?
The adverse effects that children suffer when they are exposed to violence can only be dealt with if the avenues to which they are exposed to violence are checked and regulated. For instance, the school authorities can ensure that their teachers are well equipped and trained to identify quickly and deal with incidences of bullying in school (Berson, Hernon, & Persall, 2012). Also, many children are exposed to domestic violence, and this means that social service workers also have a role to play to ensure the rescue and rehabilitation of these children. In addition, children should also be educated on the importance of and how to forge healthy relationships with the people around them (Berson et al., 2012). This will help in dealing with any misleading information that they may have gathered from the environment or the media.
Do you believe that there should be a limitation on the violent video games children are permitted to play?
Yes. I do. Recent research done by psychologists has shown that the more children are exposed to violent video games, the more they develop aggressive behavior towards those around them and also, a decrease in pro-social behavior like empathy and kindness (American Psychological Association, 2015). Even though it is not the only risk factor, researchers have concluded that video games do increase the chances of young people engaging in criminal activities. This alone is proof that exposure of children to video games that encourage violence has an inimical effect on them, and this should, therefore, be reduced if they are also to be dissuaded from engaging in gang activities.
Type of assistance will you ask from the community as a whole
Community initiatives usually bring together a wide array of stakeholders like religious organizations, schools, law enforcement agencies, business entities, public health agencies, etc. (Schwartz, 1996). Each of these players, therefore, has a role to play in reducing the gang violence levels in the society. For example, the schools could structure programs in which the students are taught non-violent ways of resolving the conflict. The public health organizations on their part could organize programs for helping affected youth to recover from substance abuse while the business entities could come together to avail employment for young people, which would erase the need for the youth to join gangs.
What role will the department itself take?
The role of the police department is to observe the statistics and patterns of youth involvement within the community and come up with ways of identifying high-risk areas using this information (Spergel, 2007). By doing so, the department can ensure that the distribution of police officers is done according to the information that they have received. This will ensure that sufficient protection is provided in the high-risk areas. Also, the information that they gather with regards to the crimes that are committed by gangs can be shared with relevant project’s youth workers and probation officers so as to help them in their endeavors of rehabilitation and reform (Spergel, 2007).
How will you measure the effectiveness of your plan?
There is a need for initiatives that are put in place for measuring whether or not the plans that have been put in place are reducing the levels of gang violence among the youth. These initiatives need to be structured in such a way as to hold the different players accountable for the various responsibilities that they have undertaken under the plans (McCarthy, 2014). These initiatives should also allow the players to review the measures that they take so that they can align them to the particular gang violence problems in their areas of operation (McCarthy, 2014).
Conclusion
The community plays a critical role in assisting the police department to deal with violent activities among the youth in the community. There are certain activities that expose children to violence and therefore contribute to them children joining gangs in the neighborhood. It is evident that the input of an entire community is vital to deal with any social ill.
References
American Psychological Association. (2015). APA review confirms link between playing violent videogames and aggression.Web.
Berson, S. B., Hernon, J., & Persall, B. (2012). Preventing children’s exposure to violence: The defending childhood initiative.National Institute of Justice, 27(1). Web.
Howell, J. C. (2010). Gang prevention: An overview of research and programs. Web.
McCarthy, G. F. (2014). Gang violence reduction strategy. Chicago Police Department. Web.
Schwartz, W. (1996). An overview of strategies to reduce school violence.ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. Web.
Spergel, I. A. (2007). Reducing youth gang violence: The little village gang project in Chicago. Plymouth, UK: Rowman Altamira Press.