NAACP discusses solutions for ‘root causes’ of continued youth violence in Dayton

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DAYTON — The Dayton Branch NAACP gathered to talk about what’s causing kids in Dayton to become violent.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, local leaders say ten of the 40 homicide victims in Dayton last year were 18 years old or younger.

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NAACP Dayton Branch President Derrick Forward says the youth violence problem became a major focus over the past year.

Efforts to make a change picked up after a mass shooting on Home Avenue left half a dozen teens hurt and two people dead last year.

“Everybody wants the American dream. The American dream is what promoted America’s greatness. And that greatness now is not realized by most of us. The dream becomes a nightmare,” Morris Brown says.

Brown is the Dayton Branch NAACP Health Committee chairman and led the meeting Monday night, where a panel of experts shared what they believe is contributing to the violence.

“The root causes of violence have to do with socioeconomic status, frequently as a start. Family disunity, mental health issues, substance abuse, individuals who are not connected with the community, individuals that preoccupied with self-aggrandizement,” Brown says. “We know that an individual can see so much violence that they become insensitive to violence, where they don’t fear death.”

That’s why Brown says the root cause is a direct response to what they have experienced so far in life. He refers to it as “ACES,” which stands for Adverse Childhood Events.

“Trauma can be dad went to prison, mother’s an alcoholic, a child can witness someone getting shot, a child can be dodging bullets every night, the kind of things that people of low socioeconomic level are exposed to,” Brown says.

Forward told News Center 7 that the Dayton Branch NAACP is waiting for the city’s Cure Violence Global Program to begin so they can be a part of it.

“We decided to be proactive and show the community what is available now,” Brown says. “This society that we live in now is teaching them not to fear death, which is not good because then it results to reckless behavior.”

Mayor Jeffrey Mims was on the panel and announced that the Hope Peace Initiative, which includes the Cure Violence Global Program, will be ready to go in the next weeks.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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