The Honorable Michael E. Capuano
Office of Congressman Michael E. Capuano
1414 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Capuano,
Teenage years are the most important years of your life and help shape the way for your success in dealings with the real world, but the majority of 13-19 year olds living in the urban neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts find themselves dealing with multiple hardships and it can sometimes sway them into a negative direction. The biggest problem with this is that it all sprouts into Gang, Gun and Drug violence in our community , plenty of people that I know have suffered loss of family and friends to pointless violence and it causes them dissuasion and the point of questioning themselves in today’s society.
“Why strive for the best when I’m just going to end up like the rest of the people in this neighborhood?”
As sad as that sounds many of the young adults living in Boston have this view on life and because of it they will end up joining gangs or acting out in anger which is a subliminal cry for help. Wanting to be apart of something and the desire for acceptance usually helps create this behavior. During my high school career I was apart of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps [JROTC] Program, it was an extra curricular activity that I took pride in and it really taught me a lot about myself and others. Current Friends I have met from this program inspired me to develop such a passion for this issue in our city, most of had lost family members and back to back in the same year due to violence and I would always question myself on how they are staying so strong coping with the tragedies. When asking them I would always get, “because we love the JROTC program and it motivates us to become better citizens”.
The main issue is, we need more funding for extra curricular activities for students, additional time spent in self development and sports versus roaming the streets with nothing to do looking for trouble really balances out the good that can come out of this generation. I know I had way too much free time on my hands so I found a job, but not everyone have the opportunity like I did, so in the Boston public ,and charter schools I feel that advising counselors should ensure that all students are using their free time efficiently rather than putting it to waste.
As a service project for “Be The Change” a civic engagement campaign conducted by my professor, I went back to my high school JROTC program and helped with this years drill team and helped recruit more kids to help the team and themselves, I really wasn’t expecting to get such satisfaction out of assisting others but it really made me feel that I was making a change in someone life, the team ended up winning 2nd place in the north east division this past weekend, and it is just proof that you can put individuals together from all different races, genders and living environments but still have some sort of success come out of it.
I am not trying to change the world, but I feel that it is my responsibility as a young adult in such a beautifully diverse city to at least try to help and speed up the process.
Sincerely,
Julius Jones
*1 O*kn*y Rd,
B*ight*n, MA 02135
