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Advocacy group calls for changes to end youth violence

By Kim Leoffler
Updated  April 24, 2023 11:20pm EDT
Georgia
FOX 5 Atlanta

Listening to youth stops violence, group says

Violent crimes among young people remains a problem both in Georgia and across the nation. An advocacy group that works to prevent youth violence says the change has to happen at home, and it can start with listening.

ATLANTA - Advocates have been working to prevent youth violence by making changes both at home and under the Gold Dome.

They say it all starts with a conversation.

"Whether you agree with them or not, they’re trying to tell us things, and if they can’t tell us with words, they will tell us with actions," Polly McKinney with Voices for Georgia’s Children said.

"What we work on, is trying to a make sure our government policies, at all levels, support families, and children. We make sure that people learn how to listen better to our kids, and our families, when they’re asking for help," she explained.

She said regardless of what a child is going through; it makes a difference to take time to listen.

"It is driven by something. Whether they have a behavioral health diagnosis, or not, or need behavioral health services. Whether they are responding to a lot of adverse childhood experiences, anything from poverty, to real or perceived racism, to sexual abuse, to watching a parent or caregiver be abused," McKinney explained.

"What we do know is, when children are heard, and we listen to them. And don’t judge for how they’re feeling, we can make a lot of headway in preventing violence," she added.

(FOX 5)

According to the latest date from the GBI, the number of juvenile arrests across the state dropped from 26,116 in 2017 to 9,811 in 2021. However, the number of arrests did rise slightly in 2021 from 7,704 in 2020.

Forty-two of the juvenile arrests in 2021 were for murder.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says homicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24 nationwide.

"A lot of children feel isolated from support and I think that those things are just a few of the many things that can drive children to act out," McKinney explained.

She also encourages families to not be afraid to ask for help.

"If you think that your child and probably family needs behavioral health support, and mental health support, because sometimes you have to wrap the family in it, as well, to help the child, ask at your school, call your local community service board to ask for help," McKinney said.