Chances for Peace in the Midst of Boston Violence

This weekend brought news of thirteen-year-old Luis Gerena being murdered near his home in Boston. This is the third middle-school boy who has been murdered in Boston within the last several weeks. Like Emmanuel Benjamin Saintil, a fourteen-year-old who was shot on December 22nd, Luis Gerena attended the school where I teach part-time. The violence is emotionally traumatizing for children, family members, teachers, church members, and many other people who belong to the communities of which these boys have been a part.

I believe this kind of violence is preventable--that these boys might not have been killed if there were more support for anti-violence programs in Boston. I read in today’s Washington Post about Peaceoholics , a D.C.-based program that reaches out to young people who are considering violence, and gives them encouragement to make a better choice. This kind of program offers the possibility of saving lives. Knowing that successful models for youth violent prevention do exist gives me some hope when the barrage of loss is overwhelming.