PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh leaders are working on a solution to the problem of youth violence in the city.
It was the topic of an hours-long discussion inside city council chambers on Wednesday.
The roundtable comes two weeks after six teens were accused of attacking a woman inside a store in East Liberty and a new chaperone policy was put in place in Market Square.
“They’re acting out because they think nobody cares,” Councilman Khari Mosley said. He led the discussion.
“We have to show these young people we care, and we have to hold them accountable,” he said.
Walking that line between care and accountability can be difficult. One example is Market Square’s current chaperone policy.
Some have said it’s unfairly penalizing teens who aren’t there to make trouble.
“To have a beautiful public space but then say a certain subset of residents can’t participate works against the concept of what public spaces are about,” Mosley said.
Advocates at the discussion referred to those who cause problems as the “2 percent,” stressing that it’s the vast minority of teens.
They say the “2 percent” makes decisions based on a number of factors including home life.
“The consequences are much more favorable than their current circumstances,” Mosley said.
The roundtable did not feature any teens, but Allderdice senior Aaliyah Taylor was in the audience. She addressed the group after the meeting adjourned.
“A lot of these people we’re dealing with are dealing with parents being incarcerated, parents dying, friends dying,” she said.
Taylor told Channel 11 she’d like to see teens at the table.
“There’s a miscommunication when it comes to adults and teenagers. A lot of teenagers see adults as wanting to tell them what to do,” she said.
Taylor said there were some practical solutions she thought were good ideas including increasing the number of youth centers around the city, so teens don’t have to take public transit to get to them.
Meantime, Mosley says it’s a work in progress and is going to require flexibility from all parties involved.
“This is a national issue. There’s not a single city in America that has figured this out yet,” Mosley said.
He also told us he does want to see young people involved in these roundtables moving forward.
Mosley is also cautioning youth ahead of the summer months to behave so stricter policies won’t have to be implemented.
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