The Tri-State Defender has joined forces with a determined effort to help the women, men and children in an area known as the “Trifector” transform themselves and their South Memphis neighborhood into a model and catalyst in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Trifector connects Booker T. Washington High School, Vance Middle School and Georgia Avenue Elementary. The newspaper’s point of contact is Rhoda Stigall, the head of the Memphis City Schools’ Division of Parent and Community Engagement (PACE). In this installment from a series of periodic reports on the Trifector, Vance Middle School students do the talking.
Derrick Mosley 8th Grade - Vance Middle
Derrick Mosley
The world in my eyes is troubled from being racist, money hungry and distant from problems that really matter.
Racism is one big problem that world leaders don’t want to accept. Like the Jena 6, six African American teens were put in jail for fighting when the other Caucasian teen wasn’t even prosecuted.
Money hungry congressmen make the United States an untrustworthy country. If our country and states leaders can’t get it together, then it’s no way that the violence and drug dealings will stop. It has to start with the leaders first.
The fact that people are more focused on other none important things that have nothing to do with the destruction of the world as a whole is sad. All seven of the world continents need to come together as one and solve economic problems and Global warming as one, instead of fighting wars.
All of this impacts the rates of violence in my community. The community where I live takes in all the violence of the world and the people of my community try to change it themselves. There has to be a better way.
Larry Craft Vance Middle - 8th grade
Larry Craft
The world as I see it is very, very brutal. More men are in jail, young ladies are getting pregnant, and people are just ruining their lives these days. The gangs are awful, young men and young ladies are dropping out of school. This world needs discipline. People need to do something with their lives instead of wasting it. I wonder why people think life is a joke, or something.
People are not taking life one day at a time. Why would someone waste their lives, instead of being successful? To me, the world is like a big bomb ready to explode; the more damage we do to the world, the faster the bomb will explode.
How are we going to make this world a better place for the future? What do we do? You tell me! Adults we need your help!
Antonio Ferguson Vance Middle - 8th Grade
Antonio Ferguson
My community, my life surroundings and the city as a whole to me have their positive and negative sides.
The community I live in now is shocking, not because of the people who live in it, but because of the government. One reason is the unfortunate number of people on government assistance in our community. The assistance is inferior and keeps our people below the poverty line.
My school, Vance Middle, has proven to the city that where you come from doesn’t mean that you have to act a certain way. Just last year our 8th grade boys went 179 days fight-free.
So my school is making a positive impact on my community. This year our 7th grade young ladies are leading the vision with 50 days fight-free.
My life surroundings is my community, but the city as a whole is inadequate. The government and some people just make our city look and seem dreadful. On the other side, we have people and different parts of the government trying to make the city better for us and the next generation.
The adults in my community can help us not only with our attitude, but our social lives. The concerned teachers can help us by being here in our time of need. Why do we need this? We need this because this is the time, the middle school years, which is a major turning point in a teen’s life.
Jarquenez Franklin Vance Middle School - 8th Grade
Jarquenez Franklin
In my community there are gangs, violence and prostitution. The police seem to have no force over these crimes. I see people everyday getting beat up, shot, robbed and kidnapped. I don’t see the government doing anything to help solve these problems. The only people I see that’s trying to help are the people who live in the community.
But they can’t do it on their own. That’s why I am writing this paper, because I want a change in my community. I hope someone will read this paper and say, “This is not a good look for our young adults.”
No one wants their children in a community full of violence. I think the government should become stronger and more active in our community.
Malkeisha Allen Vance Middle - 8th Grade
Malkeisha Allen
I observe my environment as being violent. I think that is because there is a crime happening everyday and the crime rate is increasing day by day. Teenagers are committing crime just as much as the adults.
Adults and children are doing some of the worst crimes imaginable, such murder, assault, and distributing drugs. If children and adults were to stop and think before they commit crimes, the crime rate will not only decrease dramatically, but the community would change for the better. Another way that the crime rate could decrease is if adults and children would talk productively.
Adults could help stop violence by talking to children and mentoring them. If most of the kids who commit crimes had someone to look up to, nine times out of ten they would not have committed the crime.
Adults could help children by listening too. If adults listened they could learn more about a child and help them think about where they are going and what they are about to do. Adults could help all students whether they are good or bad by giving them something to look up to and by being a positive role model.
Kadedria Robinson Vance Middle School - 8th Grade
Kadedria Robinson
The world around me is not what I imagine it should be. I see people whose lives have been taken away. I also see people who had a future and now they are on the streets. Sometimes I feel sorry for them. I look at them everyday hoping that my life doesn’t end up like that. There are people begging for money to survive.
In spite of all this I would like to grow up to be a doctor, lawyer, or even a teacher. I do not want anything to mess that up. I don’t want to become a bum like those people. I want to live up to my dream. I would like the kids around me to do the same.
It seems that some adults don’t even care if kids don’t have food, clothes or a home to live in. Adults can help by keeping their children in school and off the streets. They can get more involved in the community and its surroundings.
If only people could see it the way I see it. I think it would help make my environment a better place.
Comments
Comment #1
(Posted by frankiesha) Rating
Malkeisha's article was the best of them all! Keep up the good work. pimpin
Comment #2
(Posted by Antonesha coleman) Rating
Good job. You guys keep it up. Love Ya!!!!!!!!!
