Meredith Elizalde grieves at the grave of her son, Nick, in October 2022. Nick was 14 when he was killed leaving a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School.
It’s convenient and comfortable to turn away from the violence you see on the news because you don’t feel any connection to this issue. But for me, and the thousands of other Philadelphia parents whose children have been shot, we don’t have that luxury. The 11 families who were added to our ranks last week have been thrust into a world of violence and ugliness. A world where parents raise murderers, who are protected by their extended family and loved ones.
Gun violence is a symptom, not the cause. Systemic issues that plague our city and nation, combined with easy access to guns, are at the root. Generations of divestment, lack of social programming and equitable funding, and intergenerational trauma are presenting themselves through this violence among our youth. If you have no connection to district schools recently, you would not recognize what has become of them since the pandemic: the violence, the mental health, the hopelessness.
Do you have time to volunteer with our youth, to show them there is hope and that life can be good? Everyone must make the time. We can’t afford not to.