Group addresses ways to feel safer in community
BY JASON COHEN
South Bronx residents recently
gathered to discuss how
to make the community safer
and how to work with their
neighbors.
On Thursday, Feruary. 6,
SOS, Save Our Streets, a nonviolence
activist group, held
its second meeting of the year
centered on creating a plan to
protect communities.
The youth made their voices
known that night. Kassandra,
17, a member of the SOS Youth
Council, said the south Bronx
needs more recreation centers
and safe places for kids to go.
But, stressed the parents can
only do so much.
“You can’t force them (kids)
to go,” she said. “You have to
want to be there. There should
be programs for everybody.”
The teen explained that often
people act out in school or
join gangs because they don’t
have a stable home. She noted
that people often say how people
behave starts with the parents,
but questioned what if
the parents are absentee.
“That’s the reason they
roam the streets because the
James Reddick, program supervisor of SOS, speaks at a community meeting on February 6. Photo by Jason Cohen
home is not the home,” she explained.
“They feel outside is a
better environment than their
household.”
She then discussed the negative
impact of social media
on today’s society.
“It (social media) was better
when you were younger,”
she said. “When you’re
younger, you are not gang affi
liated. It was designed to be a
good thing, but people make it
into something else.”
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,28 FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 5, 2020 BTR
Sabrina, 11, of Morissania,
told the Bronx Times she does
not feel safe in her neighborhood.
She recalled how one of
her friends was followed home
one time and robbed.
She said there needs to
be more community centers
and safe places for kids to go
rather than just liquor stores
and 24/7 bodegas. Sabrina
noted her mom taught her that
not everyone wants to be her
friend.
“Some of these kids get
killed and I don’t want to be
one of them,” she said. “Some
of these kids are getting into
gangs.”
Another resident stressed
how important it is to make
an attempt to hold others accountable,
do volunteer work
and get to know their neighbors.
He said instead of committing
crimes, people should
talk to each other. Some people
think they can only be
drugs dealers or never leave
the hood, but they need to realize
they can be more.
“We all come from the same
neighborhood,” he said. “We
all have the same problems.
We all know what poverty is.
You can be greater than what
you are.”
There were also parents
who are quite concerned about
the violence in the neighborhood.
Asher Diamond, who lives
on East 163rd, has three kids,
15,8 and 5 and is worried her
oldest may be in a gang.
She has seen him put up
gang signs and is scared of
what could happen if it’s true.
She knows it a bad area, but
hopes he chooses sports instead
of that life.
“I would really like him
to play basketball,” she said.
“I do feel safe, but my son has
had altercations with kids before.”