- [Interviewer] What do you think parents, teachers, and other adults can do to minimize violence in schools?

- It's gotten to a point where they really can't do nothing now.

It ain't up to them no more.

It is up to...

They adults.

They used to be youth, but now they adults.

It ain't up to them no more.

It's up to us.

We gotta stop this 'cause... - I agree.

- Because we the ones in this, so we gotta stop this.

And it's like we can't get everybody to stop but at least we could try to just slow it down.

(gentle music) - [Interviewer] How has violence impacted you in schools?

- I don't know.

It's just something I just became used to.

It's something I'm running with now.

It's like if I hear about it, if I see it, it don't affect me no more, 'cause I'm almost 18 now so I've been seeing this since a young boo.

So, it don't really surprise me no more.

I'm not really impacted by it no more.

I just... - It just feels normal to me now When I hear about somebody dying, it's like so many Black kids die.

Yeah, I hear about a shooting and I just look at it.

I just shake my head.

'Cause it's like, damn, what can I do about it at this point?

You feel me?

- Exactly, and then it's always that little voice in the back of your head.

Like in my necks.

(laughing) - Not even (indistinct).

- Nah bro.

Nah not even, I feel you bro.

I be thinking about that like I can die any day.

Like somebody can come in here with a gun, shoot the whole school up and kill us.

Somebody can start shooting outside.

Stray bullet hit one of us.

It's like for one the guns are too accessible.

And I definitely agree with that.

I feel like I could die any time but I low key think, I find comfort in knowing that we all die eventually.

I know it sounds messed up, but it's like... - I mean, yeah, everybody got they time where they go supposed to go, but it's like ain't no another human supposed to cut your time short.

- [Interviewer] How has school violence impacted you?

- Honestly, it hasn't really impacted me much because I'm so used to it by now.

But maybe at the beginning it impacted me a little bit but not too much.

Now I'm here just to protect my little siblings, make sure they are safe and stuff in school.

Make sure they getting their learning and (indistinct) violent acts.

- [Interviewer] What do you think schools can improve on?

- Definitely school safety.

More counselors so kids can be heard more often than having to schedule a appointment for like a month after they're having a mental break or something like that.

They have to wait a month to finally talk to the counselor about it.

And I don't see how that's even fair to kids that's actually thinking of or having suicidal thoughts.

They can't get the help that they need right away.

They have to wait.

So I'm saying get more counselors get better help in general.

- What made you want to be an educator in the first place, and particularly at the school that you graduated high school from?

- Well, it was Central High School that literally made me want to be a teacher.

I had a favorite teacher.

Can I mention his name- - Of course yeah.

- Okay.

Mr. Mead, he was an African American history teacher here at Central, long, long, long time ago.

And he was absolutely amazing.

And I looked at him every day and just pretty much said, "I want to be like you when I grow up."

So that's what - Yeah, that's great.

made me wanna be an educator.

- Have you noticed violence in the schools and if so, does it affect your quality of teaching and overall the quality of education at Central?

- Yeah, well I graduated from Central and unfortunately when I was a student at Central there was a lot of violence.

But the difference was there weren't any weapons.

And if there were, we never heard or seen them at all.

It was just fist fights and people would hurt each other but they would recover quickly.

Where now we have to worry about gun violence, which a lot of people don't recover from the gun violence.

And with that it has affected the way I teach.

Not in a big way, but we've had some lockdowns I think is what it's called.

And we have to close the room.

We have to stop instruction.

So, fortunately it hasn't been very often but it has affected several of my classes.

- Yeah and I feel like it's strange because guns were a thing when you were in high school.

So what do you think made gun violence be more prominent now?

- The accessibility.

You can get a gun very easily.

- For sure.

- A couple of phone calls and get a gun, because we have these devices where you can call like we can communicate much easily now because of technology.

When I was in school, we didn't have cell phones.

I couldn't call and ask for a weapon where I guess now if I wanted a weapon I can make a few phone calls unfortunately and obtain one.

They're missing the view of the youth.

I think that they should talk to students more because that's where it's coming from.

When they're talking about violence in schools we often see the police officers and administration, and maybe some parents from the family where the child was harmed.

And we never, well, at least I've never seen them talk to or interview the students at the school.

I think that's important.

We need to hear their point of view so that we can kind of get a better grasp and understanding of why it's happening.

- I do have an example of that actually just recently I went to a party and it was a party in Brooklyn Park and the police officers went and shut down this party because the youth was being violent and somebody had got into a fight which I do agree that is something you shouldn't be doing at parties, but necessarily they went to the party and started using force before we started using force.

Once I started seeing it, I seen them macing people, I had seen, what is it called?

The guns they use with the rubber bullets.

Oh no, it wasn't a taser, it was rubber bullets.

And I seen that and I'm like, "Oh, that's weird.

"Why are they doing this?"

I know there's like...

I know it's violence in a situation, but if you really actually go up to it and try to dismantle it by using your words, it can probably work faster than just automatically jumping straight to violence.

And it was like, then they tried to portray that we were just being downright bad at the place.

You know what I'm saying?

And I was kind of mad about it because I felt like they took a shot at me personally because we weren't there to... We weren't intentionally there for it to be violence.

We were there to have fun.

The summer just started.

I'm thinking, "Okay, this is gonna be fun.

"I'm going here to have fun."

So when I seen that on the story, I was kind of sad because I'm like, "Why are they always trying to paint us "as just bad in general."

Like the youth really...

I know the youth is, they do their things and they mess up sometimes but necessarily, if you really sit down and talk to us there are some kids that are aware of their actions and know what they're doing wrong.

And I feel like they really don't have those one-on-one conversations with us, or group conversations like you said, talk to us, and I feel like that really can help but...

I know they're changing right now but until I actually see the progress myself then I really can't know for sure if it's actually changing for the better.

- [Interviewer] What do you think legislators can do to address violence in schools?

- Talk to the kids.

That's a big thing that's missing.

And being an educator here at Central I don't know if there is a program like this but when I was at Central we had an amazing program that was partially ran by my favorite teacher, Mr. Mead.

African American history teacher.

It was called "Closeup."

And we would go to Washington D.C. every single year and speak to a bunch of different teachers but mostly other students about issues.

It didn't matter what type it...

It was violence.

We talked about of course, academics, but it was just a lot of different issues that we got together and we talked about.

Of course politics, We're in Washington D.C..

So, if there is a program here at Central, or if someone can bring a program back like that where the students can get together and talk.

- Oh, oh God that is- - Is there a program like that?

- Actually there isn't because that's how we feel and don't believe we were just talking about that.

Like how we can sit in the space and discuss what's going on in the communities.

And it really does help us because for one if somebody isn't aware of what's going on they can learn something and there's nothing better than learning something.

Especially in actually understanding it.

But I was just talking about this in school, I was like I wonder, can we start like a... What is it called?

They call it groups or I don't know.

I'm gonna just say group, but a group where we can all just sit around and talk to each other.

Like I said, like critical thinking.

We just bring up topics of how we feel you know what I'm saying?

Just life in general and just talk about it.

And I feel like that will really let people be more understanding.

If it was just one class like that and it was required in high school, everybody would start having mutual understandings.

Even if they didn't like it, they would want to talk because they would want to voice their opinion.

So with that, I feel like we just need a class where we can all just sit down and talk to each other.

And some people don't feel comfortable talking, that's okay.

But I feel like eventually everybody will warm up.

They like listening.

- Yeah, and if I can piggyback off of that, kind of, well staying on the subject, but to just kind of add on, I feel like now as that I'm an educator I feel like the students are detached because of the devices that they have.

We have iPads, they're awesome, they help us.

But then to have your cell phone in class and you have access to it constantly and you're going on social media, and you're looking at TikTok and you're looking at Instagram and whatever it is that you're looking at, and you don't get to really know the person that's sitting at your table.

You don't get to really know the teacher that's holding the class.

Not in a romantic way at all, but I fell in love with my teachers 'cause I got to know them and I really felt their energy and I try to give them my energy where we don't have that connection now.

We're so detached and if we had a space for the youth to come together, put those devices away and sit and look each other in the eyes and I'm gonna give you some of me and you give me some of you.

And we get to know each other, different cultures, different backgrounds, and that would make a lot of change because we're so detached, and that's a huge problem.

- Being exposed to it is another thing because some people really aren't exposed to gun violence, or that lifestyle in general so they look at it completely different.

But from somebody who's seen it either firsthand or experienced it, having that understanding and being able to know why they're doing it is the only way you're actually going to be able to solve the problem.

But it's... We're just in such a up place and I don't wanna swear, but it's like people really don't care anymore.

And that's really how it is.

I personally know people who say they just don't feel like they care anymore.

If you ever lost somebody close to you to gun violence and that can really change you, because you look at people different you'll start to look at the world different.

One of my friends recently was killed by an officer and that was shell shocking to me, you know what I'm saying?

Freshman friend, hooping with him, every time I used to see bro, there was a smile on his face.

So it's like to know a person like that can be taken away from you like that.

So, despite the situation, it's like we know these people, nevertheless these people who die from guns, people who are shooting people, you know what I'm saying?

In prison, these are still human beings.

They still have families who love them.

They still have people who care for them you know what I'm saying?

Want them in their lives.

So it's like... - The cops are here supposed to serve and protect us.

But yet we are fearful every time they pull us over, like this may be the last time seeing the day of light again or the last time we see our loved ones in the passenger seat.

Going back to the Philando Castileo shooting, he had his daughter in the backseat.

The daughter had to see her father get gunned down by an officer who swore to serve and protect us.

And he just shot him straight in the chest without a care in the world.

- And it's like...

It's obvious, me personally I feel like they don't care about my people.

Don't need to look at this no more.

It's like with that, I'm not gonna lie this...

I'm trying to forget that the camera there because man this makes me just feel like it's a burning, something's burning at me and it's not authentic for some reason, I'm not gonna lie.

- [Girl] I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe.

Racism, intolerance, and poverty.

I could have just as easily picked up a gun or a knife as many of my childhood friends did, most of whom were murdered or put into prison.

But I chose to do something beautiful that people would recognize me by.

Thus made a whole different life for myself which has also proved to be so.

(uplifting music)