Community brainstorms ways to reduce violence

LYNN – Things that are broken can be fixed was the message John Ford gave to a crowd of about 30 gathered Thursday at Fecteau-Leary for the first Stop the Violence Rally, which set the tone nicely for the two-hour discussion that followed.”We’re not here to bash any group or specific people,” said Rob Smith, one of the new movement. “We’re here to get ideas on how to stop the violence.”Local activist Antonio Gutierrez who – along with Smith, Ford, Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano, former Lynn English girls basketball coach Fred Hogan and Ebony White – launched the new group, said essentially the six of them made a decision that there was enough talk about change, it was time for some action.How does one stop violence was the question of the evening.One mother said jobs. Her 19-year-old son has struggled to find work, she said.A primer on text abbreviations used by kids and young adults would be nice, too, she added.Jessica Buono said social media was what drew her to the rally. After shootings in Curwin Circle and on Washington Street took place earlier this year, social media blew up with people asking, “Where are the parents?””It’s easy for someone to say parents aren’t doing their job,” she said. “But you can’t put all the blame on parents. You can have five kids raised all the right way, and one decides to take a different path.”Buono said she would like to see a parent group formed to share ideas and information, serve as an outlet and sounding board and help parents make connections. She said it would also be nice to see more minority officers on community policing duties. Monthly meetings between neighborhood kids and minority officers might go a long way toward building bridges, she said.Esther Summersett, assistant director of Straight Ahead Ministries, said introducing minority kids to only minority police officers contradicted the whole idea of bringing everyone together.”It’s all perception,” she said.Buono said it’s also about reality, and the reality is minority children are treated differently.Officer Oren Wright, who is African-American, said that isn’t really the case, though it may seem hard to believe.Wright, who often does detail work in a local grocery store, said he smiles and says hello and tries to engage people all the time.”About 40 percent answer me back,” he said.He and Sgt. Edward Nardone, who was also on hand to speak, implored parents to stop telling their children that if they’re are bad that a police officer will come and take them away.”I know you’re trying to be funny ? but what message is that sending your child?” Nardone said.Master I.E. Victory suggested the city show kids they’re important and valued by investing in the parks and playgrounds. Jesse Warren from the YMCA urged parents to be watchful and engage their kids.”I get a sense from spending time with your kids that there are a lot more issues than we can handle in the short amount of time we’re with them,” he said.Ask them how their day was, take 10 minutes to play catch – the smallest things can have a big impact, Warren said.A lot of money and resources are spent on middle and high school kids, but Robert Connolly said shifting focus to building up the self-esteem of elementary-age kids might be the ticket toward steering them away from trouble down the road. He also suggested that the committee keep in mind that not every kid is an athlete, and it needs to give all children something to which they can aspire.Gutierrez said he has nine children, and every one of his sons but his youngest has ended up in jail, “because that’s exactly what I taught them.” He said they became involved in drugs because, back in the day, that is what he did. Clean and sober 15 years now, Gutierrez said he is very mindful now of what he does around his 8-year-old because he understands that kids model the behavior they see every day.White filled more than three poster-sized pages with ideas generated from the meeting. Capano said the committee would take