I'm Mad As Hell and Not Going To Take It Any More...
by Nick Ashton, CEO/Founder, Tracometry Group of Companies.
Project Summary
We have been asked to assist in the following, in a manner where our
expertise, technology and community awareness, is focused for a result that instills
the facts of the immense human problem of children killing children, family and
street life, solutions and a life with reduced violence, so a near normal life can lived day to day.
The Teen Unity Project is children,
young ambassadors for the prevention of violence, discussing the solutions and
producing a video message/documentary of their views, ideas and importantly
their actions. The documentary will explain their concerns, disgust of the
situation. Their elders, parents and
government have failed them and they have to take the bull by the horns, so to
speak.
They are mad as hell and not going to take it
any more…
Instead of resorting to beating us all over the head, in a violent
manner, they have turned to using pictures, moving pictures, and words from
their own mouths, scenes from the streets to reach out and ask for help. Rejection and failure to complete this Teen Unity Project will devastate them
as a group, individuals and prove they were wrong about us and where we really
stand.
Stand beside them, walk with them, and invest in
a project that will make a difference worldwide, in regard to teen violence,
killings and downright bullying. Do not
let it slip by as we have no time to reach out ever again. It is traveling at breakneck speed and like
our planets, is as close as it is going to get in our lifetime. Teen violence growing exponentially and is
moving away from while it intensifies, kills more and absorbed more young
people into the death trap of the streets and we have no capability to catch-up
and solve, if we do not act now!
The time frame for this and our initial
connection is on more than a short fuse, as is the overall problem. Easily, we could say, sure, next year! You now that next year never comes as it is
always today. It is a project that is wonderful in concept and short on the
normal problem of life, CA$H. They have no budget
whatsoever and have laid their cards on the table.
Martin Luther King, Jr, said:
“Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent
About Things That Matter.”
This is an ethnic problem and encompasses all children, the fact
is, some say, it is, in Indianapolis, an African American problem. In point, it
is a youth violence problem and there is a solution for all.
Achievable? Yes, and
brilliantly with financial assistance. Tracometry has evaluated the project,
completed its own study of the real
facts of the issues and their wanted results.
We can produce a documentary of meaning, addressing the problem,
sharing the solution with the children and young people involved at the grass
roots level. They are wanting to stop
the violence, lead normal lives and stop others from leaving this earth before
their real time is up. They want to delay the inevitable and lead productive
lives and not the lives they are surrounded by on the streets, in their own
homes and communities.
The recognition of the problems of their environment is a gigantic
step and must be embraced, nurtured, expanded and actioned. You never stifle enthusiasm, innovation or
forward thinking! Simply put, they want
to do something about it, NOW!
Here is an extract from their proposal:
The Indianapolis Chapter of Indiana
Black Expo, Inc. (IC-IBE) will facilitate roundtable discussions that promote
unity among urban youth ages 12-19. The goal is to build support for effective,
sustainable efforts to prevent dis-unity and the problems it creates before it
occurs so that our youth can thrive in safe environments with supportive
relationships and opportunities for success. These forums will take place at
the Walker Theater on May 13th, June 10th, and July 8th leading up to Indiana
Black Expo's 2013 Summer Celebration in July and culminating with a youth
produced social science documentary that captures and disseminates best,
promising and emerging practices for promoting unity in the community among
youth from their perspective.
Rationale
Research has documented the
magnitude of youth violence and the trends in that violence over time. But what
do we know about why young people become involved in violence? Why do some
youths get caught up in violence while others do not? There is no simple answer
to these questions, but scientists have identified a number of things that put
children and adolescents at risk of violent behavior and some things that seem
to protect them from the effects of risk.
The Youth Violence: A Report of
the Surgeon General (2001) states, "The most powerful early predictors
of violence at age 15 to 18 are involvement in general offenses (serious, but
not necessarily violent, criminal acts) and substance use. Moderate factors are
being male, aggressiveness, low family socioeconomic status/poverty, and
antisocial parents." While these risk factors are not necessarily causes
of violence, they are predictors that lead to the inference that violence is
preventable and not inevitable. With this in mind, what are the overriding
indicators that have impacted Indianapolis and how can we discover the causes
and implement relevant solutions?
According to the Indiana Black
Expo's 2012 State of Our Black Youth (SOBY) Report, 33.1% of the total youth
population in Indianapolis is African American. Additionally, 38.1% of African
American children live in poverty, 60.1% of these families are headed by single
mothers, and there are 56 juvenile delinquency case filings for African
American children per 1,000 African American children ages 10-17 (2012 SOBY
Report). Data such as this combined with the 2001 Surgeon General's Report on
risk factors for youth violence has led to an unfortunate misperception that
youth violence is synonymous with the African American youth culture.
During the 2010 IBE Summer
Celebration, several incidents involving youth violence
occurred including a shooting. Most recently, incidents involving youth violence have occurred in and around Circle Center Mall and Fountain Square. The Indianapolis community would benefit tremendously from IC-IBE's Teen Unity Project because it presents a very unique opportunity to explore this controversial topic by facilitating genuine community dialogue around stereotypes vs. reality and potential solutions from the youth themselves. Because the humanistic method teaches a wide variety of skills which are needed to function in today's world — basic skills such as reading, writing and computation, as well as skills in communicating, thinking, decision-making, problem-solving and knowing oneself, the roundtable format is an especially effective way to guide discussion and solutions to recent youth issues in our community.
occurred including a shooting. Most recently, incidents involving youth violence have occurred in and around Circle Center Mall and Fountain Square. The Indianapolis community would benefit tremendously from IC-IBE's Teen Unity Project because it presents a very unique opportunity to explore this controversial topic by facilitating genuine community dialogue around stereotypes vs. reality and potential solutions from the youth themselves. Because the humanistic method teaches a wide variety of skills which are needed to function in today's world — basic skills such as reading, writing and computation, as well as skills in communicating, thinking, decision-making, problem-solving and knowing oneself, the roundtable format is an especially effective way to guide discussion and solutions to recent youth issues in our community.
An evaluation of the Teen Unity Project will be completed
to measure the effectiveness of developing youth ambassadors that influence
practices and policies in collaboration with partner organizations that impact
these outcomes. The evaluation will describe the planning and activities of the
Teen Unity Project and measure the implementation activities (outputs) that
result from roundtable discussions and in the screenings of a youth produced
documentary on promoting unity among youth and violence prevention. This will
require:
·
An initial participant survey to measure the youth and
community's perception of youth unity in Indianapolis.
·
A participant survey after each roundtable discussion.
·
A documentary review to evaluate the
viewers' perception of youth violence in Indianapolis and how the presentation
impacted their view as a result.
·
Partner Organization Survey to assess
the impact of the Teen Unity Plan and how they plan to implement and continue
to work with youth ambassadors.
In
all of their information the dream is the documentary and nowhere is there anything
on how they will shoot the video, script, edit and in a format that is
presentable for a large audience. The
concept is brilliant, the emphasis is all on the meetings, discussion and final
end meetings and viewing of the finished documentary. The bread and butter is there, just no
filling.
Their
budget sadly, is next to nothing, under $1,500 in cash and a further $1,500 in
kind.
This
is not going to achieve the dream or the goal.
If it was presented to stir a need for help, it did!
To
produce this project we are hourly running out of time and this cannot be put
off. The problem of violence within our
communities and with our youth will continue and at an alarming rate.
Time to think, to give back and see the change that will occur.
We are moving at lightning speed. Why? For decades we have ignored the escalating problems, the brakes need to be applied to stop the nonsense and save the lives of our youth.
Call
us: (317) 426.0110
Email:
countmein@tracometry.com
copyright 2013
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