Crime stats show that not only is Nashville’s murder rate elevated over recent years, but more than half of the city’s 67 homicides this year involved someone under the age of 25.
In response, hundreds gathered at Pearl Cohn High School Monday night for a summit on youth violence.
On stage were students, police officers, pastors and youth advocates. In order to stop youth violence, they said the city needs more youth mentorship programs, paying jobs for high school students and improved housing conditions.
One woman who attended with high hopes for answers was Amelia Griswould. She wore a t-shirt with a picture of a 15-year-old child on the front, the nephew she’d raised since he was an infant.
He was killed
earlier this year by an 11-year-old boy.
“Now they want to do something when it should have been something long ago, done already,” she said. “Maybe my baby would still be alive. But my baby is gone because of another child.”
Griswould wants to know how children get their hands on a weapon, a question shared by many at the summit, though guns were hardly mentioned by the presenters.
The event was organized by Mayor Megan Barry’s office.
Similar community meetings are expected after the new year. She said she wants an action plan by March.
“We need to do everything in our power so we don’t hear these stories and numbers any more,” Barry said. “I want our community conversations to capture the hopelessness that is felt in some parts of our city. I want to define the problem of youth violence in meaningful ways, and I want to ask the right questions.”
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM