Kids give city leader feedback on violence reduction
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a weekend of shootings and violence, one city leader is looking to young people to make Indianapolis safer.
Shonna Majors, the city’s director of community violence reduction, met with local teens over the weekend for feedback on ways to reduce violence.
As the meeting wrapped up Saturday afternoon, IMPD rushed to an east side apartment complex to find a man shot dead. It was the second of four deadly weekend shootings.
“It was immediately deflated,” Majors said. “I think the good work that happened on Saturday has to continue. We just have to.”
Majors said the Your Voice Matters Summit drew teens from all over the city. She heard from kids who’ve had their houses shot at and kids who know murder victims.
“A lot of the kids have decided that they would like to be kind of peer ambassadors with their peers, and when they see their peers going down the wrong path, kind of take hold of them and pull them back in and say, ‘Hey, man. We’ve go to stay on the path,’” Majors said.
She said her staff targets struggling kids every day and offers them education and work resources. She visited the Avondale Meadows YMCA after an interview with News 8 Monday to find ways the YMCA can help kids stay out of trouble.
“I really do think that we are seeing a swing in the right direction,” Majors said. “I just want to keep pushing that momentum while we have it.”
Majors said when she grew up at 35th and Oxford, kids settled disputes with fist fights — not guns.
She said the kids at the summit told her the city staff should be genuine and trustworthy when they interact with local kids.
“This is not the time to stop. This is the time to keep pushing and push harder,” Majors said.
Majors said the adults at the summit emphasized that kids who want to help out their peers should make sure they are doing so safely.
She said local schools reached out to her after the summit and asked if she should set up similar events at the schools.