The Mayor’s Youth Council and the Youth Police Advisory Council joined forces to host a Fireside Chat with Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Police Chief Troy Finner to focus on crime and violence faced by youth.
Youth, educators and parents chimed in to share their experiences and concerns around school safety, bullying, gun violence, gang violence and social media-relate issues and ways to tackle them.
“I’ve spent so many years spending time with youth over my 33 years of service in the Houston Police Department,” Finner said to the audience. “Building those relationship…this is a great setting, but this (conversation) has to happen every day in our schools and in our community.”
Statistics of gun-related incidences in Houston have been alarming. According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, 60 children and adolescents under 18 died from gunshot wounds in 2022, making last year the deadliest in at least five years.
Over the last four years, there were 557 incidences in Texas where students have been disciplined for having firearms in school. As for school fights, there were more than 15,000 reported incidents during the 2020-2021 school year statewide.
“I’m not saying go and take people’s guns away… but if the state allows for no licenses required, no permitting, no training, then you’re creating a market for guns,” said Turner. “There are way too many guns that are out there. So, when people have a fight these days, it ain’t a fist fight anymore. We do need reasonable gun laws in this state. I think it’s a mistake not to have it, and I think we need leaders to stand up and lead.”
During the Q&A segment a parent spoke about her academically-gifted daughter who is a 7th grader and a virtual learner who is concerned about returning to the classroom for fear of bullying and lack of confidence in school safety measures.
The parent brought her daughter to the fireside chat as a way to encourage and ease her stress.
“This was our first fireside chat of the year, and I’m very proud of how dedicated our youth are,” said La’Shana Brown, coordinator of Mayor’s Youth Council. “The goal is for the youth council members to gather the information from this event and find ways to implement these suggestions across the city. This will be done in the coming weeks.”