Youth Violence: Its Source and Solution
Collette Caprara /
Virtually in the shadows of the seat of our nation’s government and the crowds gathered for the National Cherry Blossom festival, the residents of the Benning Terrace public housing development are mourning a triple tragedy.
Two of their young people have been murdered, 13 youths have been indicted—virtually sealing their lives’ trajectory—and, perhaps most tragically, there may have been a way to prevent this devastation.
A televised news report on the indictments included a statement from Bob Woodson, founder and president of the DC-based Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE), who decried a pullout of support for a neighborhood-based gang intervention initiative that had once made a dramatic impact in quelling youth violence in the community. (more…)