The Boys and Girls Clubs of Syracuse are spearheading an effort to try to curb violence among teens and young adult men of color.
The idea, says Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler, is to give these teens and young man strategies to deal with conflicts at school or on the streets.
"If you’re limited in terms of what you think your options are, then you’re going to resort to some of the options you feel are available to you. So by giving these young people additional options to refer to, that increases the likelihood that violence won’t occur,” said Fowler.
The program is called Just(ice) in Time Training for Teenagers and Young Adult Males of Color, and it will train peers to use real life situations and role play to offer teens and young adult males these different ways of dealing with conflict.
Derrick Dorsey, the executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs, says this community-wide program, sponsored by National Grid and the Boeheim Foundation, offers several different strategies.
"Maybe the tool of not responding. Maybe the tool of apologizing. Maybe the tool of being humble. Those are the skills that our young folks, if they have those tools, we could quell some of the violence peer to peer,” said Dorsey.
Walt Dixie, who’s been working on issues like this his whole life in Syracuse, says it’s good programs like this continue to train new generations, at a time when violence rocks many communities in Syracuse.
"Doing nothing is not an option, you know?” said Dixie.
The coalition is hoping a new program puts a dent into the violence that has plagued Syracuse in recent months.