[DEHC] event on violence and teens 4-6 pm, today 10/22 at Great Hall

Mon Oct 22 10:44:38 EDT 2007

The Boston Public Health Commission will be having an event to release 
information on the health of teens today from 4-6 in the Great Hall, 6 
Norfolk Street.  Mayor Menino and Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer 
will be in attendance.  All are invited.  There was an article in today's 
Globe on the purpose of the event:

High rate of violence seen in teens' lives
Survey details gun use, assaults
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff  |  October 22, 2007
More than 40 percent of male high school students in Boston say they have 
carried a knife and more than 40 percent of all students believe it would 
be easy to get a gun, according to a new public health survey.
One in five students has witnessed a shooting and does not feel safe in 
his or her neighborhood, the survey found.
The report, which surveyed more than 1,200 students in 18 Boston public 
high schools in the spring of 2006, found that two-thirds of students said 
they had witnessed violence in the year before the survey, and one-third 
had been involved in a fight themselves. Nearly 40 percent of male 
students had been assaulted, and 28 percent said they did not feel safe on 
the bus or train.
The report, which city officials are releasing today to launch a series of 
community meetings on teenage health, highlights the pervasive exposure to 
violence among city teenagers and the fear it can generate.
"This is a call to action for everyone who works with young people," said 
Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, public health officials, and some 80 high school 
leaders will present and discuss the findings at an afternoon meeting in 
Codman Square. The meetings are designed to solicit ideas and opinions 
from teenagers on strategies to curb gun and gang violence.
Ferrer said the prevalence of violence and its psychological impact on 
teenagers are distressing.
"The impact of such exposure to violence is trauma," she said. "It can't 
be treated lightly, and it can't be dismissed."
The report, however, found several areas of improvement compared with a 
similar youth survey two years ago. More students said they felt safe on 
the bus or train, in their neighborhood, and on the way to and from 
school. Fewer students were shot at or attacked with a weapon other than a 
gun, and far fewer witnessed an attack. Students were more likely to trust 
the police.
In 2004, there were 64 homicides in Boston, the most since 1995, and up 
from 41 in 2003. There were 74 and 75 homicides in 2005 and 2006, and 
there have been 58 so far this year.
The survey was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health. Half of 
the surveyed students were black, 28 percent Hispanic, 12 percent white, 
and 6 percent Asian.
Ferrer said she had anticipated most of the findings but was dismayed by 
the number of students who reported feelings of depression and had not 
received help. Almost half of female students and 28 percent of males 
experienced such symptoms, and more than 60 percent of those students who 
witnessed or were victimized by violence. Only a small fraction received 
counseling, the survey found.
"This really documents some problems related to emotional well-being," she 
said. "We have to ask whether we are doing enough to help kids cope with 
strong feelings that things aren't going well for them."
The survey's finding of widespread fistfights - more than one-third of 
male and female students reported having hit, punched, kicked, or choked 
someone in the past month - was also disturbing, Ferrer said. Such 
violence can easily intensify to weapon use, she said.
"We're missing the precursor to more serious violence, which is a lot of 
aggressive behavior," she said. "We need to give our students some skills 
on how to resolve conflict before it escalates."
Marcus Peterson, a member of a youth antiviolence group called Operation 
Greensboro said public apathy contributes to the persistent violence.
"It's not really an issue anymore," he said. "It's just accepted."
Operation Greensboro has launched an Internet campaign to enlist high 
school and college students and is urging Governor Deval Patrick to take 
steps to reducing inner-city crime.
Peterson, 16, said the threat of violence in the city's most dangerous 
neighborhoods takes a mental toll on young residents.
"You always have to watch out," he said. "You could get in trouble for 
wearing the wrong hat or the wrong color."
Six percent of students reported carrying a gun, primarily because they 
felt unsafe in their neighborhood or because someone threatened to hurt 
them. Half of those reporting they carried guns said they belonged to 
gangs and reported far greater drug and alcohol use than non-gun carriers.
More than one-quarter of students said they would not report a crime for 
fear of reprisal or being labeled a snitch. Menino and law enforcement 
officials have denounced the antisnitching culture and urged witnesses to 
come forward and identify perpetrators.
Fatimah Mahdee, a 17-year-old from Dorchester who works with the Boston 
Area Health Education Center, said she hoped the survey results and the 
youth meetings would make confronting the culture of gangs and guns a 
higher priority.
"We're trying to show people how serious this is," she said. "If you talk 
directly to the students, maybe they'll understand what's really going 
on."
Mahdee said many teenagers can't walk down the street without looking over 
their shoulder and are frightened by the prospect of random violence 
around any corner. She mentioned Steven Odom, the 13-year-old shot and 
killed earlier this month on his way home from playing basketball.
"It's just crazy what's happening," she said. "Of course you are scared, 
because anything can happen."
Harry Harding, a family mentor who estimates that three-quarters of his 
Boston clients have been affected by violence, said children are at once 
preoccupied and desensitized to violence.
"Both are kinds of trauma," he said. "Instead of cotton candy and recess, 
they are asking about who got shot. But it's also just part of their 
vernacular. They don't seem to realize they are talking about death." 
© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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