Stand up!

This is the year that we stand up as a community.In the last 18 months we have been in crisis managemnent,lurching from one homicide to the next, each tragically wasted life a body blow to our family's , community's and city.

We have mobilised our community and Governments resources to deal with the challenge of Youth gangs, violence and anger.On our streets and in our homes we have extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, to keep our young people out of the gangs, to stop the tagging, to keep our young women and men away from the attraction of prostitution, or off the street, for our safety, and theirs,

We have seen churches step up and give our youth strong leadership by holding employment and education expo's and arrange tours by international experts such as Nicky Cruz.Our Schools are using youth workers to keep our children focussed on education and learning, and reaching in to family's to up skill our parents , particularly in computer technology.Our Police are responding by establishing units such as the Youth Action Teams, rapid response teams, dealing with urgent trouble spots.

The Government has redirected millions in to our communities, to raise our health and educational standards, lower housing rentals, and unemployment, and we have seen massive business development within our neighbourhoods.Our Council builds skatebowls, pools, library's and recreation centres, and encourages open use by our youth, by not charging for entrance.

But there is a growing plague that has settled in our community, that in the end only we can deal with.The well spring of the Gangs, grafitti, prostition, and crime is the massive increase in drugs use.Drugs are killing our young,destroying their minds and stealing their innocence.This problem is getting worse and is fuelling escalating gang activity.At the centre is a growing gang battle over distribution rights, is the worst drug of all, P.Too much of the violence on our streets has its cause in this drug, that leaves its users with no moral base, nor normal human compassion.

The Police, the Council, the Government, all have a roll to play in helping us deal with this problem, but we alone ,as a community, have the ability to act together to sort out this plague on our young people.We all know who the gangs are , who their members are,who the drug dealers are, where their houses are ,where the P labs are, where the tinnie houses are.We know because they are part of us, our family, our neighbours, our friends, our fellow church members,our classmates, our workmates.

It is our generations challenge to deal with these gangs and the drugs trade, now.It will become too big and ingrained in our community for the next generation to deal with.Is this the very best we can leave the future generations?

It is time to stand up and say no more to this plague, to stamp out drugs use and selling, in our homes , our streets, our parks, our town centres, our schools.

Stand up for our family's,
Stand up for our streets,
Stand up for our community,
Its time to stand up for our childrens future.

Len Brown,

Chair,Otara youth Action Group.

ENDS

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