INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis group is taking a stance against gun violence and bringing the conversation right to some of the communities recently struck by crime.
Just in the last several days and weeks, there have been multiple teens killed, park shootings or even accidental shootings between kids. The members of “He Cares, Inc.” wants to talk to young children across Indianapolis and surrounding communities about these issues.
The group’s founder, Lenerd McKinney, said children are ultimately the ones most impacted by local gun crime.
“When I was a kid, it was almost a freak of nature to go to a funeral of a child,” said McKinney. “And now it’s commonplace. The children are dying faster than the old people.”
This is why McKinney said he wanted to open the conversation to nearby children. His group travels to communities recently struck by gunfire, like Blackburn Terrace, where a teen was shot a few blocks away just last week.
“Our future is dying, and if we don’t do something, that’s us saying we’re okay with not having a future,” McKinney said. “Our future is dying at an alarming pace.”
McKinney said he has even talked to several children who have been scared by nearby crimes.
“One of the kids told me there were too many people dying around him,” he said.
That is why McKinney said he believes it is important to talk to kids about these issues.
“We’re trying to catch some of the hotspots where shootings have recently happened and we’re going into those spots and we’re talking to the children,” he described. “We’re what we call ‘planting seeds.’ We’re giving kids the information and letting them know they’ve been empowered to actually help us try to stop this violence.”
A few young kids are helping him spread the message during these gatherings as well.
“I want to stop the violence and know that the shootings and things is not okay,” 14-year-old De’Arah Brooks said. “And kids and people want to come outside and play and be safe and not have to be like scared or nervous because violence is going around.”
McKinney said it is important adults take a stance too, whether that involves finding a better way to handle conflict or safely lock up guns to keep them out of kids’ hands.
Comments are closed.