Youth, pain, and crime: Why are so many young people turning to violence as conflict resolution?

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
In a city where a 13-year-old is stabbed and killed on an MTA bus, by a 14-year-old, the horrific news leaves New Yorkers aghast.
Unfortunately, youth gun and knife violence is a nationwide public health crisis. States dealing with a surge include New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Texas, and Tennessee.
“Gang, gang!” is the call with which some young people have been moved to, forced to, or enticed to join the gang culture that is so prevalent in the community. The lifestyle, the initiations, the survival and the growth of these street organizations bleed into the lives of everyday people.
There is nothing like the wail of a mother burying her child – the victim of a fatal shooting or stabbing.
Then there are the tears of the teen perpetrator, many whom may be hoping to slide under the juvenile justice reform laws.
Activists, Cure Violence Organizations like S.O.S. Crown Heights, Man Up! Inc., and frustrated members of the community are asking how do we stop the madness? The bloodstained sidewalks. The bright yellow caution tape. Children are getting way too familiar with wearing lanyards with the RIP to their classmates.
“It is so tragic that these discussions have to be shared so frequently concerning our youth,” Rosalyn McIntosh told Our Time Press. The Trauma/Domestic Violence Coach continued, “I will say our underserved youth may be more susceptible to turning to violent conflict resolution for various reasons, including; social, economic, emotional, and environmental factors. Limited access to resources. Our youth often face systemic disadvantages such as inadequate access to quality education, recreation centers, mental wellness, housing, and employment opportunities.

A lack of these necessary resources can lead to frustration and desperation, making violence seem like the easiest way to address conflicts.”
Gun violence and stabbings close to schools have increased with three students killed from 2022 to 2023, while almost 20 have been shot or knifed.
In 2021, it was a particularly violent year in the city with twenty-one 10 to 17-year-olds murdered by knife wounds or bullets.
NY1 reported that the NYPD said “that since 2019, the number of youth perpetrators and victims of gun violence has more than doubled.
“Last year, 124 people under 18 years old were arrested for firing a gun, and there were 153 gunshot victims under the age of 18.”
The NYPD sent a chart to Our Time Press showing under-18 shooting deaths in the last 8 years. In 2015 there were 53 victims; in 2017 there were 30; in 2020 – 45; in 2021 (Covid semi lock down) there were 73; the next year there were 96 victims; and this year so far, there have been 67 young shooting victims.
Ms. McIntosh, an East New York-based activist continued, “Poverty is a critical factor in what causes crime and violence in our underserved communities, which can lead to our youth being exposed to violent behaviors early on. Many see Domestic Violence in their homes and the violence in the streets. Witnessing so much violence can normalize it and make it seem like an acceptable way to resolve disputes.”
A DCPI spokesperson told the Our Time Press that “on Monday, October 2, 2023, just before 4 a.m., Ryan Carson, 32, was fatally stabbed multiple times at Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, in Bed Stuy. On Thursday, 5th October police arrested Brian Dowling, 18, charging him with murder, and criminal possession of a weapon.”
“There is very little empathy out here, and the reality is it’s not getting better,” said Dr. Adofo Muhammad, the Bedford Academy principal for 15 years. “These young people’s interpersonal skills are stunted. If they have low self-esteem and low value of self, they will have a low value of others.”

Mr. Muhammad told Our Time Press, “Their ability to navigate and talk to each other, and deal with problems without violence just does not exist for some of them. There’s a lot of mental illness in the community that’s not being addressed. They are dealing with self-annihilation and self-destruction. They don’t understand, or really they just don’t care about their actions.
“There must be a tremendous effort to reach these young people. But without a great support system, they are going to suffer.”
Mr. Muhammad offered, “I think things are going to get worse before they get better. The community must get together because they are not paying attention to the most important part of the community – that is the children, and they are kind of getting left behind.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Muhammad is actively doing his bit to keep the youth on track. His Bed Stuy school has 375 students with a 90% college acceptance rate.
Meanwhile, a NYPD spokesperson told Our Time Press that on Friday, October 6, 2023, at 2.23 p.m., officers arrived at Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island, where they found Slyer Ular, 13 with multiple stab wounds. A 14-year-old boy was charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. His name is not being released due to his age.
Brooklyn-born Bobby Digi works as the Executive Director of Canvas Institute in Staten Island. Working with students in ten different schools, with his Compassionate Systems hub at Canvas Institute, Digi said that Syles Ular was one of his students.
“We work with troubled kids in schools and emphasize emotional and social resolution as a solution, and do anti-gun violence work. Kids are getting drawn into gangs.
“Syles was a very sweet kid, who was very close to his mom. He did pretty well in the program. He and another student got into an argument over an ongoing beef. They went to the same school. Ultimately gang signs were flashed, and the media said the kid pulled out a knife and stabbed Syles.”

Digi, a father of four sons said, “It’s very emotional. The violence is getting out of control. They are emulating things on social media. It’s the drill music, and a combination of parents getting less involved, and schools with teachers who don’t want to be as hands-on, because there might be disciplinary issues. When I started working with them, I let them know that I wasn’t going to be having any disrespect or profanity, and after that, it was all love.
“Children crave discipline and structure.”
Digi concluded, “My prayer is that this becomes an opportunity for us to step up with how we deal with our young people.”
“There’s a big division amongst us. We have to get the young people to see us as one,” Clinical social worker Phyllis Thomas told Our Time Press. “They hear their parents talk about their personal dislikes about different communities like; the Africans, African Americans, and Caribbean Americans, and they absorb what they hear.”
Ms. Thomas, who says she is both Caribbean and Southern, noted that as well as what may be the subconscious bias, young people also have another source of influence: “I think it starts in the movies, everything they look at on TV is trauma. If you live in the projects sometimes they feel they’ve got to join a gang. They do almost anything to feel like they belong to a group. We need to get back to when we used to love and respect each other. If it is going to get worse, that means we have work to do with conflict resolution, healing and reflection, and mediation.”
“There’s a lot of mental illness in the community that’s not being addressed. They are dealing with self-annihilation and self-destruction.
They don’t understand, or really they just don’t care about their actions.”