Southeast Students to Mayor Lucas: Community Violence Prevention Starts with Supporting Teens

More activities for teens at Southeast Community Center. A program that connects students with mentors who were incarcerated.

These are some of the ideas students in Karen Sojourner’s class at Southeast High School have for reducing gun violence in Kansas City.

“We need people to help each other, like teachers and mentors,” freshman Jalen Martin said. “Our program will put teenagers at risk in special classes with formerly incarcerated mentors.”

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was invited to participate in the students’ listening session last month, said he was intrigued by the proposal.

“I like to learn from mistakes, too. Mistakes I’ve made, mistakes others have made,” Mayor Lucas said, adding that he thinks teens benefit from authentic relationships with mentors and other trusted adults.

Freshman Aliana Hall said she thought her classmates’ mentoring proposal could work.

“As kids, we have not seen everything in the world, but maybe we can learn from someone older,” she said.

Aliana’s group proposed renovating Southeast Community Center to make it more inviting for teens, another idea Mayor Lucas said was worth considering.

Caleb Owens, who teaches with Ms. Sojourner at Southeast, said it’s exciting to be teaching freshman who are already focused on making their community a better place to live.

“These guys have been in the driver’s seat all year,” he said. “Just imagine what they’ll be able to do when they’re seniors.”