While the world is coming out of a global pandemic, there is yet another troubling trend taking hold in the city of Mansfield.
It seems to me that over the last five years or so the number of shooting deaths involving local black teens as victims and perpetrators has increased to an alarming rate.
In addition to elevated occurrences involving gun violence there has also been a significant rise in suicide deaths and attempts among black teens in our area. According to The Center for Suicide Prevention and Research (CSPR) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 1 in 6 Ohio youth age 10 to 19 years old have seriously contemplated or attempted suicide.
Black youth represent the highest percentage of suicide attempts in comparison to all other ethnic groups. A study, written in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry stated that teen suicide among black youth has increased by a 5% since 2017 with black girls at even a higher rate of 6.6%.
Overall, suicide deaths have now moved up to the 2nd-rated cause of death for teens ages 12 to 19 (CSPR, 2022).
The sheer number of funerals and memorial services I have attended for black youth under 30 years of age has caused me to believe that our young people are in a battle for their lives, and many don’t realize it until it is too late.
As a community, it can be easy to become numb to some of the tragic events that have robbed our young people of their future and the life that many have just started to live. Yet our apathy can also be the reason this trend continues.
The late Dr. Rita Pierson, in a TED Talk, proclaimed that “Every child needs a champion.”
For many Black youth in Mansfield, the question is, “Who is their Champion?” Who are the people that provide safety and security? Who are the individuals in their lives that encourage their gifts while helping them work through their perceived shortcomings such as low self-esteem and other mental health issues?
Most importantly, who’s winning the battle of influence in the lives of Black teens?
More than anything it’s the visual examples that youth gravitate towards that influence so much of their decision-making, for better or worse.
A new term entitled, “The Culture” is defined as generational norms and trends that influence the actions of people within a certain age group. I have a simpler name for it: “The Internet.”
It seems “The Culture” is winning the battle of influence ahead of parenting, faith and wellness among adolescents and young adults.
So many of them are looking to social media, their favorite hip-hop artist or internet personality to find their value. Unfortunately, the values that make you “internet famous” are typically violence for young men and an impossible standard of beauty for young women.
This is the part where we become programmed to blame parents or the school system or racism and other factors to explain some of the choices that young people make.
It’s more beneficial to recognize the problem at hand and work to find real and sustainable ways to help our youth.
But there is certainly accountability to be taken by many, including those of us who are parents. So many of us rushed to put smart phones in the hands of our 9-, 10- and 11-year-old children, because suddenly, we needed all-time access to them. We seemed to forget when we grew up, we would be out playing for hours riding our bikes and only knew to be back before the streetlights came on.
Even more, we allowed them to start playing with our phones when they were toddlers. Surely, we did not understand the possible harm that would come from the power of the internet on young minds, but it is certainly evident now.
Need more evidence of the effect of technology? Try taking a phone from a teenager and watch the emotional distress that will occur.
Growing up in this community as a Black youth, the perception of success is often clouded by environmental barriers that have existed for generations within the Black family.
While I certainly believe that Mansfield is a place where Black individuals and families can thrive and create stable, loving households, it is also a place where you can get trapped in the cycle of poverty, crime and drug abuse.
The scariest element of living in this cycle is that our children so often become comfortable with their circumstances. It becomes acceptable to think that life has dealt our family a raw deal and because of that, the bar for success goes from being educated, and financially secure with a rewarding career that fulfills you; to just trying to graduate high school, make money in whatever way presents itself, and keeping up appearances by purchasing items outside of what we can afford.
The children who grow up in situations and environments like these often have children that are thrust into this cycle through no fault of their own.
So many Black youth often lose or abandon their hope very early in their mental and emotional development. It is not because they have no ambition or desire to be successful, it’s that success means something different to a teen who has grown up fast and been exposed to elements of life that even some adults are not ready for.
Black youth are under attack, and we have no time to play politics or point fingers because we all know that it truly takes a village to not only raise a child, but to give them hope. Let’s invest in our young people.
The younger, the better. I have had my fill of meetings, committees and initiatives designed to “rescue” the Black underserved youth of our city that ultimately fall by the wayside because there is no instant success.
We must realize two very important factors that can be culture shifting:
Number 1. We don’t need inflated statistics about the failures of the black family and underachievement of urban public schools thrown in the face of community members.
At this point it only serves to further validate stigma and stereotypes of the African American family and lack of academic achievement of some of the students; AND, we already know the data. The numbers have been the same for decades now, and furthermore, the grim statistics regarding poverty, crime and education in the Black community can be carbon copied among all similar communities throughout Ohio and for that matter, the nation. (See Marion, Lima, Sandusky and others).
Number 2: The Black youth in our community need consistency, not sensationalism. They are under attack and being hunted by the very culture that many are turning to for acceptance. Let’s get rid of the “pancake” programming, which are programs that are created to help the youth, but as soon as it gets a little hot, the creators turn and run; just like flipping a pancake.
We cannot demonize technology or the internet because innovation has always been and always will be a part of our human existence. But as a community we can help our young people restore hope by investing in and SUSTAINING youth programs that give children a positive self-image and help to build up the resiliency of African American young people so they can face challenges in life without turning to negativity.
Now, is this the solution to all the problems that come with the Young Black experience?
Maybe not, but I know that ignoring the problem and pointing the finger won’t help our youth. We must get in the fight with them to effect change. Let’s fight for black families, which in turn will give hope to our black youth.
The fact is, we don’t want them to win this battle, we want them to stay out of the war altogether.
Stay Blessed, Not Stressed.
