Suggestions on how to reduce crime in bad neighborhoods. (Chicago: felon, taxes)

[quigboto]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Again, most people in bad neighborhoods are not causing problems. Most people in bad neighborhoods are trying to do the right thing. If you go into this thinking that everyone in a bad neighborhood is a bad person, then you will quickly frustrate yourself and not have any empathy for their situation.

Maybe rephrase as "How do we help the good people in bad neighborhoods fight the criminal element they have to face everyday?"

Yes, I agree. Thank you. That is more in the spirit of what I meant. But I do think that there are good people who are too passive about the bad things that go on around them. Not that they don't care, but either they don't want to be involved, or that they just think that things like drugs and gangs and whatnot are a fact of life. Part of the landscape, if you will.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Don't get frustrated. Don't smack yourself on the head.

Expand on your idea and plan. What do you mean when you say "Education?"

Every person in a bad neighborhood in the US still has access to an easily available free education from age 5 to 17. So just saying "education" doesn't mean anything - its already been provided.

What do you REALLY mean when you say "Education?"

There's 20-30 students in a class room. The teachers don't have enough time to cater to every child' individual needs, i.e. "one-on-one". It's important that students have someone (outside of the classroom) to help them with their homework. Those who do not are at a HUGE disadvantage. They need tutors, financial aid, skilled trades, or some kind of program to advance their knowledge and skills. I believe that knowledge, or lack there of, really is the key.

[Attrill]

Where to even begin? There are loads of things that need to be done, with education being just one part. Here's a few things to begin with:

- Pre-natal and early childhood care. A lot of people are screwed before they reach the age of 2. There are a lot of studies that prove that children who don't get the care they need as infants end up with their brains and their fight/flight instincts being screwed up. These kids need serious help when they enroll in schools, and drain educational resources for over a decade. A year or two of assistance early on not only helps them, but it helps any other kid who ends up in a class with them.

- Free before and after school programs to cover normal working hours for parents. Most public schools are in session from about 8:45 to 2:45. There is no way two working parents (or single parents) can work with that schedule. The welfare reform passed in 1996 requires parents to work, but there is no support for working parents who need childcare for young children, or any way for parents to supervise older kids when they get out of school. There are a fair number of after school programs, but not every school has them. Many only go until 3:30 or 4:00. This puts many parents who are trying to do the right thing in a Catch-22 position.

- Change drug laws and punishments for minor offenses. Any violent offense needs to be taken very seriously, but kids who are convicted of non violent offenses should not be thrown in with violent offenders. There seems to be a false belief that being tough on them will make them straighten out, when in reality they end up having to become violent to survive their incarceration.

That's just a few things to do, there are hundreds more.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Again, most people in bad neighborhoods are not causing problems. Most people in bad neighborhoods are trying to do the right thing. If you go into this thinking that everyone in a bad neighborhood is a bad person, then you will quickly frustrate yourself and not have any empathy for their situation.

THIS POINT IS SO SO UNDERRATED! 2 up

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by quigboto

Yes, I agree. Thank you. That is more in the spirit of what I meant. But I do think that there are good people who are too passive about the bad things that go on around them. Not that they don't care, but either they don't want to be involved, or that they just think that things like drugs and gangs and whatnot are a fact of life. Part of the landscape, if you will.

Look, we are up to 8 pages, and have yet to come up with a solution that the people in the neighborhood could implement today. So it's no surprise that people who are in that situation every day are as lost as we are.

What do you want them to do, go up to some 17YO drug sellers and tell them to get off the corner and go home? That MIGHT work if you could get a group of people together, and then that group will need to defend that corner every day/night, or it will quickly go back to where it was.

But those guys you chased away didn't just disappear. Drugs are a business, with life-or-death consequences for those who don't perform to expectations. They are going to sell their wares SOMEWHERE. So you most likely just moved the problem to another corner in the same neighborhood.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by quigboto

Not that they don't care, but either they don't want to be involved, or that they just think that things like drugs and gangs and whatnot are a fact of life. Part of the landscape, if you will.

Some, simply refuse to "snitch" on their own family and friends.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Look, we are up to 8 pages, and have yet to come up with a solution that the people in the neighborhood could implement today. So it's no surprise that people who are in that situation every day are as lost as we are.

What do you want them to do, go up to some 17YO drug sellers and tell them to get off the corner and go home? That MIGHT work if you could get a group of people together, and then that group will need to defend that corner every day/night, or it will quickly go back to where it was.

But those guys you chased away didn't just disappear. Drugs are a business, with life-or-death consequences for those who don't perform to expectations. They are going to sell their wares SOMEWHERE. So you most likely just moved the problem to another corner in the same neighborhood.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Look, we are up to 8 pages, and have yet to come up with a solution that the people in the neighborhood could implement today. So it's no surprise that people who are in that situation every day are as lost as we are.

What do you want them to do, go up to some 17YO drug sellers and tell them to get off the corner and go home? That MIGHT work if you could get a group of people together, and then that group will need to defend that corner every day/night, or it will quickly go back to where it was.

But those guys you chased away didn't just disappear. Drugs are a business, with life-or-death consequences for those who don't perform to expectations. They are going to sell their wares SOMEWHERE. So you most likely just moved the problem to another corner in the same neighborhood.

But, you need to get to get to the root of the problem...why is that 17 yo on the corner selling drugs?
because...he doesn't have someone at home teaching him right from wrong, because his dad was basically a sperm donor and never had any intention of marrying his mom, becoming two parents raising a child to be productive member of society, because his mom wasn't taught by her mom that you CAN NOT get pregnant at 16 and have a baby, because his mom got pregnant, dropped out of school, wasn't able to handle raising a child and basically told her mom to help raise him....

Obviously, my opinion is that there's too many babies born out of wedlock to people who don't have the mental, social or economic skills to be a parent.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Look, we are up to 8 pages, and have yet to come up with a solution that the people in the neighborhood could implement today. So it's no surprise that people who are in that situation every day are as lost as we are.

What do you want them to do, go up to some 17YO drug sellers and tell them to get off the corner and go home? That MIGHT work if you could get a group of people together, and then that group will need to defend that corner every day/night, or it will quickly go back to where it was.

But those guys you chased away didn't just disappear. Drugs are a business, with life-or-death consequences for those who don't perform to expectations. They are going to sell their wares SOMEWHERE. So you most likely just moved the problem to another corner in the same neighborhood.

I can't blame the victims of drug trafficking for refusing to approach drug dealers (or any other type of criminals for that matter). But, when they refuse to GET LAW ENFORCEMENT INVOLVED, it enables bad people to bring down the community.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Just1Fan

I can't blame the victims of drug trafficking for refusing to approach drug dealers (or any other type of criminals for that matter). But, when they refuse to GET LAW ENFORCEMENT INVOLVED, it enables bad people to bring down the community.

You are assuming that the police are competent. You are also assuming that the police aren't doing crooked stuff like being paid off by drug dealers. And that they'd even do anything about the problem.

..Since you want to talk about hypothetical scenarios.