On Wednesday I visited Evan E. Worthing High School where students took a pledge against gun violence. Students were given wristbands and took pictures for social media to inform others about their stand.
“Our goal is to get as many students as possible to take the pledge against gun violence,” said Toni Cormier, founder of A Papa’s Hand, as well as the Texas State lead for Voices of Black Mothers United.
Cormier lost her son, Jeremy Johnson, last year to gun violence and saw the need for improvement in the city where many young men and women run to guns rather than alternative measures to handle disputes.
“The Sunnyside area of Houston is the number one area for gun violence, so as a parent I came here and requested to have this particular high school participate,” said Cormier. “To my knowledge, there hasn’t been any other school in the Houston area to take this pledge. We figured this is a great way to kick off the pledge for the City of Houston by having the high school in that area of highest gun violence crime to take the pledge.”
The pledge was more than a promise to refrain from picking up a gun and using it in a violent way, but focusing on another way to deal with their anger and frustration when confronted with a difficult situation.
“The biggest thing is our kids don’t know how to articulate themselves and use their words to express their emotions so they typically jump to violence,” said Worthing principal Alexandria Gregoire. “I’m hoping today they hear and they talk about how harmful gun violence has been to our communities and think about different ways that they can, positively express themselves.”
