Event targets gang violence

[The Streets Don't Love You Back]

Event targets gang violence

Parents asked to get involved in kids' lives

Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Attorney General Thurbert Baker (left) greets the Rev. Alexander Smith. Baker was the keynote speaker at an event to help find solutions to gang problems.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker brought a challenge Thursday at a Gathering on Violence Intervention for Augusta parents to get involved in their children's lives.

The blade was an object lesson in situational awareness.

Both were important parts of the meeting, which aimed to educate the community about ways adults can mentor children and the resources available to parents.

Baker was the keynote speaker, but about six other people took the podium to urge more communication between parents and children.

Richmond County School Superintendent Dana Bedden delivered a stirring speech about the potential Augusta has, in spite of its budding gang problem.

As superintendent of schools in Philadelphia and the District of Columbia, Bedden has seen firsthand the violence that gangs bring. He's experienced school lockdowns and spoken at the funerals of students butchered and killed in drive-by shootings. His school was close enough to the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., that he felt the vibrations when a jetliner crashed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his 18 years as a superintendent, "I've seen some messes," he told a crowd of about 75 people at the Carrie J. Mays Life Center in south Augusta. "We are not there yet," Bedden said, comparing the level of gang violence he's seen in other metropolitan areas with Augusta. "But we need good gangs to combat the bad gangs."

In his travels around the country, people who have visited Augusta describe the town as a "jewel waiting to be polished," he said. He urged the crowd not to listen to the "vocal minority" who only see the glass as half- empty.

Baker gave a similar message about encouraging children to see their potential. Don't be discouraged if your parents don't have money or if you come from a poor background, he said. Baker pointed to his childhood in rural North Carolina as an example.

"The shortest distance to prison in this state is to skip an education," he said.

Civic and social groups in the gymnasium offered some practical advice and resources. The United Way of the CSRA had a booth with information about its 211 program. Dialing that number any time of the day links caregivers with doctors, counselors and other social services.

Margaret Lett, also known as Lady Pearl, has a program that encourages parents to turn off the TV and Internet for the last seven days of every month. She has a Web site with alternate activities for parents and children such as fishing, planting trees and visiting the library.

Bill Cain with the National Crime Prevention Task Force gave a 45-minute presentation on ways for people to keep safe. His props, including the lipstick, was an eye-opener for some on the creative ways that criminals target their victims and attack them.

A lot of methods for keeping safe, he said, "are just common sensethink