Published: August 06, 2008 10:04 am         

A war rages in our community

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 — I was sitting at my computer doing some church reports and as I pecked away on the keyboard, these thoughts flooded my mind, “There’s a war going on among our youth.” This war is right here in America — the land of the free — where both educators and politicians have declared no child will be left behind. But this war has nothing to do with books or a child’s exposure to cultural arts and natural science. This war is in every neighborhood, every state, every city, every economical class, every race and gender. We once thought it was “up north or out west,” but guess what neighbors, it is down south in our backyards, on our streets, and around the corners and even in some of our homes.

Our youth are being left behind in extraordinary numbers from drugs, tragedies (some self-inflicted, some from car accidents, DWIs), drive-by shootings and HIV AIDS to name a few.

Our youth are dying from every economical class of people, rich and poor. Fame and fortune is not a saving grace. The uptown residents have met the downtown residents and no one can tell who is who anymore, day or night.

We are losing our youth by the thousands to crack, cocaine and other social drugs. All those who are not overdosing are getting brain fried. Some walk and act like zombies, unseeing, unhearing. The youth did not go out and bring these drugs into the country and our area. The youth did not do this. But they are going to jail for selling and distributing it while the guilty go free to entice yet some more youth. They are still being left behind in the jail cells.

Some are being left behind from accidents on the roadways as a result of speed, sometimes alcohol and sometimes from just inexperience behind the wheel. We are putting our youth behind the wheels of automobiles alone too soon — counting on them to use common sense we too did not use at their age. No matter what the reason, they are still left behind and lost.

There are those who are in the wrong place at the wrong time and die from stray bullets. Recently, a 13-year-old was visiting Washington, D.C. The anger demon told a young shooter with an automatic weapon in his hands to shoot anything he saw. What he saw was a young man skating down the sidewalk. Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Dead at the age of 13. Reason? In the wrong place at the wrong time. The shooter did not even know the child he shot. Another youth left behind needlessly and another in jail for a senseless gang act he cannot explain.

Another way our youth are being left behind is by the HIV AIDS factor. Youth still do not believe abstaining from sex is the best way not to contract AIDS. They have not learned that if they are not married, they do not deserve the benefits of marriage. They have not learned yet if they just must indulge in sex to at least protect themselves from AIDS and STDs. They have not learned if they do not protect themselves, they are playing Russian roulette with their lives. Again, no matter the reason, thousands are being left behind as a result.

It is enough to make any human being cry. Blood is not the only thing that binds a child to a parent and family. Knowing the youth and living in a community with them and their families cause all of us to hurt because they hurt. Love for our neighbors and their children is what makes all youth — regardless of who gave them birth — our children. So when the blood parents suffer a loss, we too suffer the same loss throughout the communities. We all hurt and cry from the pain.

My heart is heavy at the loss of three teenagers more than a week ago and another one last week. I did not know either of the boys personally, but I too am a mother and a grandmother of a 17-year-old. I feel the pain a mother and family feel at the loss of their loved ones. Some may say, “Well, she never lost a child.” True, But the pain of losing a loved one is the same no matter who it is, how young or how old. It may sound like empty words to the parents and friends of those youths, but God will take care of you during this great loss.

I have experienced Him as a comforter. His love for me is what sustained me through it all. Trust Him who will never leave you or forsake you. When you are feeling low, all you got to do is whisper the name Jesus. You’ll be surprised at how quickly He will come and ease your pain. Weeping may endure for a night, meaning the pain and suffering you are feeling right now, but joy comes in the morning: meaning He will comfort you like no other can in times like these. Just call His name and see if He will not answer your cry.

I do not have the answers for the war that is going on among our youth. I just know we cannot keep ignoring the facts of what is happening on our streets and street corners every day. We cannot close our eyes or claim a deaf ear at the happenings all around us.

As adults and Christians, we have the obligation to put the information out there for our youth. Youth have got the obligation to listen — not just say, “Yeah, yeah I hear you” — but really listen to the message the words bring and take heed to that message. My heart is heavy and I cry for the youth that are left behind.

As the reopening of school rapidly approaches, we must stress to our children the value of life through this simple message. No drugs; no guns; no alcohol; no illicit sex. Parents and guardians, sit your youth down and talk to them candidly, honestly, truthfully. Drugs, guns, alcohol and sex are not hidden from our youth, so why should the truth be?

Give them facts and examples of friends they have lost if necessary. If you feel you cannot talk to your child, find a trustworthy person you are comfortable with — such as your pastor, your doctor, your lawyer — and allow them to get this message across. But the message needs to be passed on to them. We are losing too many children too fast. We must do something.

God bless each of you.



Pauline Jackson is a resident of Albemarle.