Forums encourage youth to discuss alternatives with experts

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW) Metropolitan Police Clubhouses and Youth Activist/Author, Yasmin Shiraz of the Signals Agency present Retaliation-Violence Prevention town hall meetings to promote youth conversations about violence in Washington, DC . These public forums sponsored by BGCGW’s Violence Prevention Initiative will be held at Boys & Girls Clubs in the District to engage police officers, victims, conflict resolution specialists, community activists and youth in a dialogue regarding how violence has affected their lives.  BGCGW programs address significant, life-altering issues facing today’s youth, including crime, teenage pregnancy, poor health and nutrition, and school drop out rates.

  The first two Retaliation Townhalls will take place on October 17, 2007 at Clubhouse #2, 120 M Street, NW, Washington, DC and on October 24, 2007 at Clubhouse #14, 4103 Benning Road NE, Washington, DC. Both events will be held from 5 to 7pm and are open to the public. Participating youth will receive a complimentary copy of Ms. Shiraz’s Retaliation: a Novel based on discussions facilitated through BGCGW’s teen pregnancy prevention program.

 “In the middle of a self-esteem workshop, I learned that a young lady who was still dealing with the fear of being attacked. I had to stop talking about self esteem and had to begin to talk about violence, frustration, fear and safety,” Shiraz explains. “It made me realize that our youth cannot learn in an environment when they are afraid. They can’t learn about progress when they are worried about being hurt.”

“The Retaliation/Violence Prevention initiative fits within our outreach programming because our children are living out what they see & hear everyday and these forums at the club are geared at letting youth create their own positive frames of references” says Darius Stanton, Regional Vice President Youth have very few opportunities to talk about issues that affect their lives in a public forum.