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Harrisburg teens react to ongoing gun violence in the city at youth forum

In a youth forum titled "Our Lives Matter," students from Harrisburg High School SciTech Campus shared their experiences dealing with gun violence in the city.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — "I've lost people to gun violence in my life...and it's just crazy because you live with people and you never suspected that to happen," said Kayla, a tenth grader at Harrisburg High School SciTech Campus.

Amid ongoing gun violence in the capitol city, she says she doesn't feel safe in her own community.

"Sometimes you don't feel safe because you feel like you can't go out 'cause you don't know if your friends or younger might have a gun," she explained.

Young people in Harrisburg like Kayla are seeing the impact of gun violence daily. They shared their raw emotions in a teen summit called "Our Lives Matter" on Wednesday night. 

"We used to go out to the park and play manhunt outside for hours, even after dark," said Brianna Wilkerson, an 11th grader at the SciTech campus. "Now, no one's at the park. The parks are empty." 

The youth forum was organized by Harrisburg Councilwoman Jocelyn Rawls and the Kappa Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., at Camp Curtin Academy in Harrisburg.

"If we don't care what they think and how they feel, then our solutions will never really meet the course that it's suppose to go. The goal will never be met," Rawls said.

The teens also discussed the change in behaviors between students at Harrisburg High School and the SciTech campus, an issue they said comes from a lack of positive feedback.

"It really takes time and patience to build a child. If you're just feeding them negative energy, that's all that they feel they are," Wilkerson said.

Meanwhile, another teen said, "They don't have the teachers that are willing to push the issue of them bettering their lives."

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams and Police Commissioner Thomas Carter were also in attendance to hear the dialogue and come up with solutions.

"If we want to make a change we gotta love each other," Commissioner Carter said.

Rawls also said she hopes to have these summits often, as change can't happen overnight.

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