We need to protect our kids

Ironically, I began writing this Father’s Day column on Memorial Day. I was strongly influenced by a combination of factors ranging from news stories on a former OPRF High School graduate’s murder, recent reportage on the spike in young victims of violence, and conversations I had with a group of local dads called “Oak Park Night Out.”

It was hard not to be emotionally involved when I heard that my own 22-year-old daughter’s colleague, Ishma Stewart, 20, a straight-A honor student studying journalism at Loyola University-an unintended victim of a gang-related shooting-was killed May 4 on Chicago’s South Side while sitting in a car. This beloved, bright young lady graduated from the same high school where my twin sons will soon be sophomores.

“I knew her,” our daughter, Lauren, said. “She was a great kid. This is so tragic.”

At least 48 teens from Chicago Public Schools have died as result of violence in the past two years, according to a Memorial Day eve Chicago Sun-Times article quoting CPS spokesman Mike Vaughn. Other experts indicate the situation for African-American youth is especially dangerous:

In 2003, 5,570 young people, age 10-24, were murdered-an average of 15 each day. Of these victims, 82 percent were killed with firearms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2006). Most of these were African-American youth.

Among 10- to 24-year olds, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans, the second leading cause of death for Hispanics, and the third leading cause of death for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Asian/Pacific Islanders (CDC 2006).

The Justice Department reported that in 2005, the homicide rate for black males, 18-25, was just over 102 per 100,000, and only 12.5 deaths per 100,000 for their white counterparts.

For black males, 14-17, the homicide rate was 26.4 per 100,000, and only 4.4 for white male teens. For black females, 14-17, the homicide rate was 4.0 per 100,000 and for black females, 17-24, the homicide rate was 11.3 per 100,000.

As we approach Father’s Day, a loosely-formed group of local dads, called “Oak Park Night Out,” led by Dave Phelps, often gather the third Tuesday night of each month at a local watering hole to chat about family, local and national politics, and the need to keep a watchful eye on our sons and daughters.

In the past, we probably felt our sons were in danger, but recent events, like Ishma Stewart’s murder, reminds us that our daughters are also at risk. At a winter meeting, I mentioned to one of the dads that the Oak Park International Film Festival featured a student-directed documentary called Our ‘Hood, which showcased a teen girl who witnessed her own cousin’s murder. Two years ago, just like this spring, there was an outbreak of violence. It occurred in Englewood. A 14-year-old South Shore High School student who worked on the film told a riveting story about how she and 29 other family members went to her cousin’s 11^th birthday party. “We all called her ‘Bubbles’ because of her effervescent personality,” the girl said. “Bubbles told us that night that she missed her friend, Starkesia Reid, (who was killed five days prior by some boy with a gun shooting at another boy with gun) and that she was almost ready to join her. Minutes later, a boy with a gun shot at another boy with a gun and missed. The bullet came through the window. We all hit the ground. We all got up except for Bubbles. A bullet pierced her head. She died that night.”

I recall a poignant question she asked that stymied me then and now as I reflect on it today: “Working on Our ‘Hood with other kids who had witnessed violence and hearing from a gang crisis mediator helped a bit. But I gotta ask, if I’m a good kid and I play by the rules and adults like you can’t protect me, why should I bother?”

As we stumble for answers, Philip Jackson, co-founder of the Chicago-based “Stop the Violence Initiative,” which includes Oak Park fathers, instructs youth to help prevent other youth from becoming violent. He says we need to help them organize and listen to them.

“Unfortunately,” says Jackson, “the real experts on violence in many communities are the youth. They know when violence is going to break out, they know who is going to perpetrate the violence, and they know how to navigate away from and survive the violence.”

He suggests forming a teen panel or focus group on violence and recommends note-taking and sharing these results with elected officials, foundations, schools, community-based organizations, social service agencies, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media and parents.