Crime and Blight (Day 4)

          Today began with education on the crime and blight of Detroit.  We met with WSU Police Chief Anthony Holt and Detroit City Councilman Michael Russell.   They informed us about many aspects that contribute to crime and blight.  Crime usually starts with parents not instilling the right morals in their children.  Hostile and unstructured living conditions can also lead someone town a path of crime.  I liked how a student brought up a point about and 8-year-old student that she met that referred to women as “b words” and said that he has no problem slapping women.  I thought this was significant because this is where it starts.  It begins when a child is growing into a young adult and accepting things that are wrong as right.  Children can get this information from a number of places: movies, video games, music etc.  Even Mr. Russell referred to his displeasure of the rapper Lil’ Wayne because of his video portrayals of him running from the police.  I also believe that most times the children are not to blame.  I think that the parents are the ones to blame because they are supposed to be monitoring their children and teaching them the difference between right and wrong, fantasy and reality.  If they hear their child referring to a woman as a “b word”, that is when they should do something to make sure that their child knows that that is wrong and to fix the problem.  The sad thing is that many parents promote bad behavior to their children.   I remember growing up and knowing a boy who smoked weed with his father at 14 years old.  Another man I observed in a barbershop told us about how he used to rob people with his father when he was growing up.  When a young man asked him why his father didn’t have a problem with that, the man said, “He needed my help.”    Many times it’s the parents that are the problem because they are instilling the wrong values into their children.  It is hard to reach out to them after so long because they may have had many years of reinforcement.  It is also hard to reach out to them because they would rather believe that what their parents taught them is right as opposed to what someone else is trying to teach them.           The Education group went to The Children’s Center to learn about what services they provide for children.  I liked the fact that they had a wide spectrum of services.  They helped kids and adults up to age 22 with issues such as abuse, death of a loved one, and physical and mental disabilities.  The facility was very eye catching and colorful and I could instantly tell that it was continuing to grow.  We took and tour and saw some of the learning areas and watched children interact with teachers.  One room was magnificent and was created with a $100,000 incentive from a supporting organization.  It had computers and all sorts of teaching tools to assist children.  It was a great day and I loved seeing that there are programs out there for the needy.  It made me think of my step-brother who has cerebral palsy.  He is fifteen, uses a wheelchair and needs help eating his food.   It is good to know that he can come to The Children’s group and get help with his disability.  We also painted a mural in a hallway of the building.  It was great because it was a team effort and we used our imagination to create new images for the children to observe.  I love ASBD.  It opens up my eyes to so much that I never knew existed.