City
Can Communities Do Anything to Help Youth?
I find myself scurrying from the TTC stop to my porch after dark. Instead of enjoying the last bit of sun (and summer), I almost dread the three-minute-or-so walk after stepping off the bus into my neighborhood in northwest Toronto.
You see, like some Torontonians, the city's recent eruption of shootings has hit home.
My home is in the thick of aromatic jerk chicken stands and restaurants, barber shops and hair salons. With exception of the local library, I haven't seen any community programs keeping youngsters busy this summer.
What I do see are a lot of bored kids hanging out in groups under the dense heat that blankets the city. What I see is a recipe for tragedy simmering to a boil. And I don't think Tuesday's news conference headed by Toronto Police Service (TPS) Chief Bill Blair and Mayor David Miller did anything to help snuff the potential blaze of violence.
While listening to the conference on the TPS website, it reminded me of one of the emergency town hall meetings coordinated in recent years when shootings became too frequent to ignore.
When I lived in the Jane-Finch area, approximately four years ago a toddler was killed on my bus route. The next day I remember looking out the window on my commute to see police tape curtain the area keeping out a memorial of flowers and teddy bears. I remember wondering what could have been done to prevent the child's death.
At Tuesday's conference, Chief Blair offered some ideas.
He cited the smuggling of firearms from the U.S. as a major problem. Blair said most of the 2,170 firearms they've seized to date this year trace to the U.S. So that must be the solution, right? Suture the border and problem solved.
Wrong.
Two days before this year's Caribana parade, a 15-year-old girl was stabbed four times by another teenager. So if it's not guns that might sneak their way into teenagers' hip-slung jeans, they could pull out something equally fatal when tempers flare.
Chief Blair also mentioned stepping up the amount of uniformed officers in vulnerable areas of the city. I guess this relies on the premise that if young people see more officers in their area, they'll think twice before relying on a handgun to solve their problems?
Not necessarily.
Late Tuesday night, Toronto's own officers became the city's latest targets when they were shot at while patrolling the Jane-Finch area. Luckily no one was injured.
Could it be more youth are growing less afraid of law enforcement?
Of course, there isn't one answer to end the violence that's making Toronto residents feel uneasy however, I think well-funded community programs that keep youth busy and invested in something is a start.
At the conference, Toronto Police Services board chair Pam McConnell noted the void created by the formerly free after-school and parks and recreation programs cut by the previous provincial government. (Yet somehow the TPS has deep enough pockets to deploy more uniforms into areas where gangs no longer fear cops.)
I think McConnell summed it up best when she said, "...the education of children doesn't happen in the four walls of the classroom. It happens throughout the community..."
What McConnell said reminds me of an old saying that could apply to a modern problem: It takes a village to raise a child.
Discussion
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Where there is a 'fashion' for violence it's hard to do anything. Don't expect nice guys in the neighbourhood, while boys are grown on violent computer games, violent films and violent music video clips...
Zero tollerance for any kind of 'unsocial' behaviour - it starts from dropping papers in a bus, then destroying a bus stop, then it comes to assoulting passengers and eventually killing one.
Zero acceptance for guns - it's statistics from other countries that tell the truth. Where you can have a gun, murders goes up. Where you can buy it on every corner (US) it skyrockets.
It's not European Union and you still have controls on your border - so do it well. It's not a big problem.
After school programs surely might help - but note that in many countries they're not existing, and in the past they were not existing in Canada either - still there are/were not such problems with criminal activity amony youngsters or grown ups.
So it doesn't depend on the 'city/goverment' which orginize your day, it depends on everyone.
Anyway - believe me compared to other places in the world, if you only want to do anything in Toronto, you can choose from hundreds of interesting activities, festivals, free sport, etc.
You are very LUCKY to live in such an active city.
No goverment (democratic) can say what you have to do in your free time.
Don't tell me you mean to suggest these things are directly causing violent behavior! They may be normalizing violence to an extent... but I think your statement was a little harsh.
I read a book called "Teenage Wasteland" where the author looks deeper into what causes drug use, hopelessness, suicide and gang identification. She agreed that a sense of boredom for kids led to destructive behavior. However, it's difficult to make kids WANT to be involved with community projects.
Yet my 15 yr old sister goes to teen clubs, skateparks, and all ages concert halls. She likes places that don't treat her "like a kid".
Interesting article. Good research.
matt I entirely agree. Well put.
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Jennn, "<i>Don't tell me you mean to suggest these things are directly causing violent behavior!</i>". I'm sorry that I have to disagree.
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What you see influences your behaviour.
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"<i>Children & Television</i>" 2nd edition, Barrie Gunter & Jill McAleer; Routledge. Chapter 7 pages 92,93... ISBN: 0-415-14452-3.
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"Exhaustive reviews of the scientific literature on the relationships
between television depictions of violence and the aggressive behaviour of
viewers have consistently documented how exposure to such content is
linked to a likelihood of enhanced aggressiveness among children and adolescents."
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"Major reports from leading public health agencies in the United States,
the 1972 Surgeons General's report and the 1982 National Institute of
Mental Health review, concluded that television played a significant part
in the lives of young people and had a general potential to influence
their aggressive behaviour. The Surgeon General's report presented
findings from a number of original and specially commissioned studies of
children and adolescents, which utilized various research methodologies.
The overall conclusion of the body of investigation was that regular
exposure to television violence is a causal agent underpinning the
aggressive dispositions of the young, and may be especially significant
among children and teenagers who already exhibit aggressive personalities."
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"... During the 1990s, further reports from the Centers for Disease Control,
National Academy of Sciences and the American Psychological Association
have provided further support for the conclusion that the mass media
contribute to aggressive attitudes and behaviour."
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"The American Psychological Association established a Commission on Youth
and Violence to examine the literature on the causes and prevention of
violence. This commission concluded that American children are exposed to
high levels of violence on television, and that heavy viewers of this
violence demonstrate increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and
increased aggressive behaviour."
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<b>"... A comprehensive review of hundreds of experimental and longitudinal
studies supported the position that viewing violence on television is
related to aggressive behaviour."</b>
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I'll summarize the results of a great study done in Ontario (and replicated in South Africa).
It examined 3 cities which initially had no TV.
They were then wired; one community with TV and only one channel, the other
community with multiple channels and the third city left alone.
Guess what happened. Those exposed to violent memes, were more violent, furthermore the increase was in response to the dose (number of channels & more violence viewed).
(for notes see the book).
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Media is used to shape culture. Ads, propaganda etc. Get over it.
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As for the flood of violence in culture.. I recommend more than just weeping. Societal pressures, mentors are just about the only recourse.
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Self defining as an non-violent has worked so far, but it is obviously failing. People are no longer including the Canadian non-violent non-gun-using stereotype in their self image/ego.
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How do you convince pliable teens and pre-teens to see themselves as part of a community which does not use guns? Well isolating them in media of violence isn't going to do it. Mentors, and our own CanCon media are just about the only ways I can see. But when they do not consume CanCon, it's up to the community.
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