Five high school classmates on the U Prep Charter School football team addressed community leaders and lawmakers at the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center on Wednesday.
Christopher Jean, 16, said to help disrupt cycles of violence, children and teens need more positive role models and mentors to set a better example.
“If a kid is looking up to some grown-up, and they follow what they're doing, and then the grown-up was doing something wrong, then a kid is going to repeat that and not know that they're doing something wrong,” Jean said. “So, I want more adults to be more considerate about their actions.”
Jean and his classmates said more school-related programming and activities like STEM clubs and seasonal sports could give kids a sense of belonging, something to look forward to, and expand their interests and keep them off the street.
“A lot of people I know and care about have been taken away from me due to gun violence,” Jean said. “It's very, it's very saddening to me. I don't want to be walking around the city and just feel that my life is in danger every day.”
Since March, four city students have been shot and killed. Others have been wounded by gunshots, including a 15-year-old boy shot on Monday in the Southwest quadrant near Chili Ave and Thurston.
According to a 2019 survey of city students, about a third reported witnessing someone get shot, stabbed or beaten in their neighborhood.
Assemblymember Demond Meeks said any approach to de-escalating gun violence needs to also address surrounding circumstances.
“When we talk about gun violence, we have to look at violence in its totality, or a holistic approach,” Meeks said. "So when we talk about gun violence, housing insecurity is a form of violence. Food insecurity is a form of violence. A failing school system is a form of violence.”
Meeks says it will take a collective effort to drive down violence across the city. So far this year, more than 250 people have been shot, 44 people fatally, according to data collected by the Rochester Police Department.
