Growing Up with Violence

Growing up as a child in Baltimore City, violence was prevalent in my community. The neighborhood in which I lived was considered highly dangerous mainly because of the gangs that surrounded the area. Gunshots would ring out nightly especially on weekends. The news channels often covered stories of shootings and other violent offenses that happened in my neighborhood on a daily basis. While attending school, my classmates would often discuss the shooting that took place the night before and more often than not it was always someone whom we’ve known. The students would often come up with their own reasoning as to why the shootings occurred and they began to obsess over the idea of gang-related crimes. It would often sadden me that my classmates were more interested in who shot who and their motive behind it than to talk about more exciting things like going skating and to the movies. It was unfortunate how the crimes in my community corrupted the minds of up and coming generation and the negative impact that it had on their way of thinking.

Although violence plague my neighborhood and corrupted the minds of my peers, it had a very different impact on me and my childhood. I was aware of what was happening right outside my door but my family was well connected and well respected in the community that we were not personal affected by it. My grandmother owned a store on the corner of a busy intersection in the city and my house sat on top of it. Many people in the neighborhood would come to the store and talk with my grandmother especially the young people. She would share her wisdom and give them advice, some would follow but many would not. She became the adopted grandmother of the neighborhood which gained her respect amongst everyone even the most violent gang members. Since my grandmother was well respected, it benefitted the family greatly. Our family was protected against the violence and I was able to live a life of security verses fear. My mother also played a vital role in keeping me safe by taking me out of the neighborhood for playdates and other fun things to keep me entertained. She tried her best to shield and protect me from all harm and danger. We were not the wealthiest but my mother made sure she keep me out of harm’s way and allowed me to be a child in a safe environment. With the help and support of my family, I was able to grow up in a less stressful environment than my peers.  

As an adult living in Baltimore City, many things are different than my childhood. I feel more stressed now than I did back then. The violence has increased, people became more aggressive and reckless and they are constant on edge. The unemployment rate has increased and paying jobs have decrease and even the people that you would least expect is turning to violence as a means to an end. It breaks my heart that some of the children that I work with turn every toy they play with into a gun and pretend to shoot at their peers. When they make the sound “bang-bang” and can barely recite their alphabet, I cringe in disappointment. In 2015, after the death of Freddie Gray the city had turned upside down and it was the first time in my life that I experienced a riot. People were breaking in stores, burning things down and protesting erratically. It was a horrible sight. Everything that we took years to build was torn down in minutes. It was a disgrace. Following Gray’s death, the homicides in the city increased rapidly making the final toll 344 in 2015.

Violence has impacted children all around the world in many ways. According to U.S Passports and International Travel, Honduras was named the world’s most dangerous and violent country. U.S. citezens were worn not to travel to this country due to the high crime rates. “Since 2010, Honduras has had one of the highest murder rates in the world, and the U.S. Embassy has recorded 42 murders of U.S. citizens during the same time period, with 10 recorded since January 2014. However, official statistics from the Honduran Observatory on National Violence show Honduras’ homicide rate has decreased to 66 per 100,000 in 2014, down from its peak of 86.5 per 100,000 in 2011, and mid-year estimates in July 2015 predict a lower rate for 2015”( U.S Passports and International Travel 2015).

“As a Honduran, you have nearly a one-in-1,000 chance of being murdered. With a population roughly equal to Virginia's, 36 Hondurans were kidnapped, 7,104 became homicide victims, and 24,808 were robbed in 2011 (most recent data). With only 3,645 assaults for the same period, you're more likely to be killed than hurt”( Loiseau 2014). These statistics are alarming and I can only imagine how it is affecting the children in Honduras.  It is said that the violence stems for the coca plants and drug trafficking in Honduras. “The Latin American country serves as a key staging ground for cocaine shipments to the U.S, and drug gangs will do anything to defend their turf”( Loiseau 2014).  The children in Honduras suffer tremendously and I would like to learn more about how it is affecting their growth and development and in what ways we can break this vicious cycle of violence before they grow into corrupt adults.

References

Loiseau, J. 2014  The World’s 3 Most Dangerous Countries. Retrieved from: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/18/the-worlds-3-most-dangerous-countries.aspx

U.S Passports and International Travel. 2015  Honduras Travel Warning. Retrieved from: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html