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As of May 26, 2023, there have been 162 homicides in the City of Philadelphia.  This is a gun violence pandemic that needs to be addressed.  We do have a right to bear arms, however, we also have a right to live in a safe environment.  We need to hire more qualified, good police in high crime areas, get unlicensed guns off of the street, give our youth the opportunity to get involved in positive activities, learn better conflict resolution skills, and provide parents with resources on good parenting skills.  Parents should know where their children are at all times.  They should also know who their children’s friends are, and what their hobbies and interests are as well.  We need better role models to help children learn how to be leaders and not followers.  We also need to help children learn how to deal with life and all of its unfairness and inequities in a positively constructive way. 

 

Children need to learn how to deal with anger and frustration in earlier years so that they do not grow up taking out their anger on other people.  We need a class on developing better coping mechanisms in an effort to put down the guns and pick up a book.   The self-help book: Coping with Grief: Your Happiness Is In Your Healing is one of the most profound books for this and future generations.  In the book are strategies that help readers cope with life challenges in a healthy way.

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Gun violence and crime is not only the problem of the people impacted, it is everyone’s problem.  You do not know when or how you will be impacted by gun violence, but unfortunately it is on the rise.  We need to catch the people behind the illegal gun selling, distribution, as well as the shooters and get them off of the streets.  There has to be consequences for their actions, so that this madness can stop. 

 

Our children deserve a better future in a nurturing and loving environment. We are losing our children at a young age and as long as nothing is done about this, the violence will continue.  There is a large amount of money out there that is supposed to be geared towards helping to end gun violence in the City of Philadelphia.  However, most nonprofit organizations still have yet to get a piece of the pie, and it is almost as if the City officials would rather keep getting funding for such cause (gun violence) by not doing anything to reduce or eliminate it (so that the funding continues) and can be used for everything other than its intended purpose.  We need a change. Imagine if it were your children who are shot and killed, and nothing is being done about it.

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As the end of the school year is fast approaching, we need to think about how to engage youth in violence intervention and prevention programs to keep them out of trouble.  Support Nonprofit Organizations gun violence intervention and prevention programs, volunteer, and get involved. Make a tax deductible donation to the Love Exquisite Arts and Recreation Nonprofit Center at LearnNpc.org/Donate or sponsor a youth to get involved in the programs.  This senseless violence must stop.  Where are your children?  What are they doing?

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By Dietra Myers