DAYTON — City leaders are working to find a way to stop teen gun violence in Dayton.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, John Drake owns Drake’s Downtown Gym in Dayton. He thinks kids in the city need some direction.
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Drake said he wants to open his gym to young people who need an outlet.
“Number one, you learn to work hard and you also learn something very important. That it’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up,” Drake said.
Drake said he grew up playing sports and the skills he learned followed him into adulthood.
“I feed on that all the time, you know? What I learned back then, it taught me sportsmanship. Taught me how to get along with others, how to deal with failure, and teamwork. That’s so important,” Drake said.
He thinks kids in Dayton lack mentors.
“Kids need somebody to look up to and that shows interest in them and helps them get there,” Drake said. “When you get large groups of teenagers together, if there’s not some guidance or something, you know, some direction, it’s going to go south on us.”
As previously reported by News Center 7, seven young people were shot when a pop-up house party was interrupted by a drive-by shooting.
Dayton Metro Library has made several policy changes because fights kept breaking out inside their facilities.
Drake thinks boxing can be a healthy way for some teenagers to release their energy, but he wishes he could do more.
“Nothing’s free anymore, you know. We have to be able to fund these kids. We find money for other things, we can find money for these kids, whether it’s in the schools or the community centers or in private gyms like myself,” Drake said.
He said he would be willing to work with city leaders to find a way to get kids into his gym.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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