The main responsibility of any community is easier to sum up than you might think: “It takes a village to raise a child.” Sure it’s a cliché, but that phrase is one of the very few that turns out to be absolutely, one hundred percent true.
The surrounding community determines who that child interacts with, from schoolmates to karate instructors. Those are the people who shape the child’s growth, development, and to some extent, dreams and aspirations.
So what happens when that proverbial village comes up short? You only need to glance at any local newspaper in the past year to find out: gangs are on the rise again.
It has been a long time since Columbia had a rash of gang-related activity as bad as this. Violence had been slowly escalating in the city, reaching a fever pitch after the October shooting of Martha Childress in Five Points. With that tragedy in mind, we have to come to terms with the fact that Columbia is now a city where its children shoot each other.
Now, the only question worth asking: what can we do about this?
Whether we like it or not, this generation of crime is out of our hands. After all, we are not the police nor should we try to be.
Nevertheless, we are a part of this community, and therefore have a responsibility for its future.
To this end, students can join organizations which can help foster a safe environment for at-risk kids. Big Brother and Big Sister programs are the most prominent examples of ways students can get involved, although there are many more.
Students at USC have a privileged position: we have been given the opportunity to continue our education beyond high school (which, in itself, is far more than some kids could ever hope for).
This isn’t a problem that we can tackle single-handedly. But it takes a village to raise these children, and it’s up to us to build that village in whatever way we can.