Lost for Words, and Words of the Lost

I am not usually one to be stuck for the right words, but the senseless shooting of a promising 18-year-old man has me really searching. Not only did a young man lose his life, but the upward trajectory of violence among and against our youth continues to take its toll on our entire community.

Yesterday's event took the life of a young man that was a member of our community and by many accounts had a lot to look forward to. While the loss of Mohamed Kamara may be seen as merely a statistic to some, it is without question that far too many children are taken before they even have a chance to make their mark in this world.

The other piece of this sad story is the hate-speak that follows such a tragedy. As I followed the story at DelcoTimes.com today, the hate speech started coming out quickly in the comments section. Words like "those kids", "that school", "those people who moved in" and "that community used to be" were used far too often. People are so quick to make assumptions and don't give a second thought to judging someone that they clearly know nothing about. To stoop to such a shallow level of discourse, and I use that term loosely, is beyond scary to me.

Violence amongst our youth is everywhere. Rich or poor, black or white, in the city or the 'burbs, our kids are in the crosshairs far too often. It is nothing less than an epidemic, and hate speech does nothing to help matters. In fact, I will argue that the hate speech actually promotes more violence, and those blaming others for being violent are actually perpetuating the violence through their words.

What has me frustrated the most is that I do not know of any solution. I am tired of the violence, yet I am even more tired of the hate speech. Children need our love, they need our hugs, but they definitely do not need judgment and hate.

Those who share my opinion, and there are undoubtedly plenty within this community who do, need to make their voices louder. We need to stand together for all of our children before it is too late. I am sure that I speak for many when I say that our prayers go out to the family and friends of Mohamed Kamara. Please know that the pain of your loss is not felt alone.

Thanks for listening.

Jennifer

P.S. To those who speak negatively about the Penn Wood High School and the William Penn School District:
With rare exception, the students of WPSD are amazingly beautiful, talented and promising. I, as a WPSD board member, and more importantly, a Lansdowne resident, will not allow OUR 5,500+ children to be judged by people that do not know them. If you are interested in really getting to know our students, watch this blog for events that are open to the public and come out and see them for yourself. If you are not open to OUR children, please, by all means move from our community. Lansdowne is NO PLACE FOR HATE and we mean those words.