Youth crime is out of control. What can be done about it? WWL went to Southern University Professor John Penny for his thoughts about the surge in youth crime and how to solve it.
“We need to begin with ‘where is the family?’ They’re in school, they’re in church, and they're in parts of our community. What are the wholesome things in our community that invite a wholesome positive life structure for our people in our city?”
Penny says rebuilding the family unit is essential giving young people the skills they need to resist going down the violent pathways that so many have chosen in these modern times.
Penny says you've got to instill the right kind of thinking in young people.
“Give them a way of hope beyond what they are currently feeling,” Penny says. “Because people who live without hope and see violence as an alternative, they are pretty much lost right now.”
Penny feels the rebuilding of the family unit in New Orleans is the most important thing that can be done so young people don't choose violence.
Another thing Penny is sure about: incarceration is no answer. “Incarceration only seems to aggravate the situation, delay it for a time later.”
Penny points to the lack of fathers in many homes as the reason for youths choosing violence as conflict resolution. He says one in four fathers from New Orleans are currently incarcerated.
“We need to look at our resources and ‘what do we care about the most?’” Penny states.
He feels engagement with youths and restoration of the family are the way out of this unbridled violence.
“People who live meaningful lives are not involved in that kind of behavior. And so I just believe we have to do something different.”
