The first story that really caught my eye today in the Times was about a young boy named Carvett Gentles. It was actually the picture dipicted on the front page that drew me into the story. A young boy who looked like he was 14 or 15 (his real age is 16) was in handcuffs abd being led into a courtroom wearing an all-black suit by policemen on either side of him. My first thought was "how could this young boy have done something so serious to be in handcuffs?" Then I read the caption, and found that he was accused of shooting a 15-year-old girl named Vada Vasquez. I had to read the story by this point, because I was very intrigued as to how a young boy could have even gotten his hands on a gun.
It turns out he was the one "chosen" to shoot a rival gang member, Tyrone Creighton, while coming out of a building in the middle of the day. He fired six shots, one of which went soaring through Creighton's shoulder and puncturing a lung. One stray bullet hit miss Vasquez behind the head just over her ear. She was put into a medically induced coma in order to recover, where she remains in critical condition.
It's a mystery to me how these young kids could have even gotten their hands on a firearm. But what's even worse: how do these kids get into such gruesome violence at such a young age? This boy isn't even old enough to be tried as an adult, and he's already attempted to kill someone with a gun! This is the problem with our country; that kids are brought up in poor households and are taught malicious and violent acts by their parents, friends, or even video games nowadays. It's sad that our country is so violent, but it can't really be stopped, only contained. My thought is to be as encouraging and supportive to young kids as possible, so they grow up with the same respect of their surroundings and the world as their parents did. Being a positive role model goes a long way.
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