Future Without Fear: Tackling Youth Violence

Future Without Fear panel. Photo taken by Greer Patten

Belmont students held an event Wednesday focused on community awareness and prevention of youth violence, titled “Future Without Fear.” 

The event was put on by Grace Dyer, Joey Studiale, Laurissa Platt, Bronagh Barrett and Kate Holthaus as part of their Radical Champions: Leading Change for Social Impact class. They hope to raise advocacy and awareness, said Dyer. 

Much of the event discussed building community as a way to combat youth violence.  

“Building community mitigates violence by fostering trust, belonging and mutual support,” said Holthaus. 

Many violent acts are committed because of isolation, said Caleb Bryant, a crisis care clinician at Belmont. Focusing on community eliminates that factor of violence. 

The five students created a Community Needs Assessment form, which asks questions about people’s perceptions of youth violence. They also created a petition to reduce violence, working with Rep. Shaundelle Brooks, a Tennessee representative for District 60. 

Rep. Brooks ran for office after losing her son Akilah Dasilva to gun violence. 

“Ever since then, I've been going to the Capitol and fighting for safety, making sure this doesn't happen again. It doesn't happen to any other family,” she said. 

She’s working to pass a bill called Akilah’s Law, which would criminalize providing someone with a firearm if they’ve been a patient in a mental institution within the past five years. 

Not everyone can be a representative in Congress, but one way Belmont students can work to mitigate violence is simply to trust the members of their community. 

“Trust is the number one thing that we need or use to keep our campus safe… if we're all being a part of a community, we all need to trust each other,” said Mark Labbe, Belmont’s assistant chief of campus security. 

Dyer, Studiale, Platt, Barrett and Holthaus have been researching this issue all semester and creating a file to give to their professor, Dr. David Harkins. Next semester, Harkins will give the file to his new class, and they will continue the work to prevent youth violence. 

This article was written by Olivia Abernathy