JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Youth violence remains a constant concern in the City of Jackson.
Efforts to keep children engaged in positive activities and away from criminal enterprise are at the heart of developing an approach to curbing youth crime.
“We’ve got a lot of young folks who are not really getting the direction that they need. You know, and it starts at home. Certainly everybody in the community has to take some level of responsibility, but it all starts at home,” said Bishop Ronnie Crudup with New Horizon Church.
The Ark, a gymnasium in South Jackson, is just one of many efforts that have been implemented for youth intervention.
“Just doing whatever we can to keep the kids off the streets. If the youth are, if they’re in the gym with us, then they won’t be in the streets getting in trouble. So, there’s different programs Friday night. Who who will feed them? I mean, we have barbecuing. We’ve had fried catfish. I mean, so it’s good food. We feed them drinks on the house, play basketball. Other gangs, just trying to keep them off the streets as much as we can,” said Charles Lewis, a basketball director at The Ark.
“I really feel as a people at my age really just be out here like they don’t have a distraction in our facility is a great distraction. Found to be doing other things other than the bad things that we’re doing out here. It bring people together that it brings, and it just help them to do something more positive, more productive, other than just being out in the streets,” said Julissa Claxton, a teenager who lives in Jackson.
The Hinds County Sheriff’s Office has a youth summer program in place to further provide positive outlets for Jackson’s youth. Sheriff Tyree Jones encouraged parents to involved their children in preventative programming.
“We have to hold them accountable for the small things, because eventually, they’re not held accountable for the small things. Something bigger will happen. Someone will end up getting hurt. Someone could eventually lose their lives, as well. So, I would tell the parents, if you see some of the smaller things happening, take advantage of some of the activities, take advantage of those. Those that want to reach out and help the youth as well, get them involved and have some type of intervention for them to keep them from going in the wrong direction,” said Jones.