COLUMBUS, Ohio — Some students at Independence High School in Columbus are looking to create a safe space to address and talk about gun violence in their community. Their goal is to teach their peers what they have learned.
This comes during the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month and the students are discussing ways to cope with their trauma when it comes to violence.
Thirty-five students from Independence High School are in the Guns D.O.W.N program which started in January. Xy'Asia Foster, an 11th-grader, is one of the participants in a planned summit for Wednesday and she said she has been impacted in many ways by gun violence. Someone she knows was killed this way.
"Guns are dangerous. It didn't really traumatize me, but it brought to my attention, why are people playing with them, posting them, and all that. It's just like, guns are pointless," Foster said.
She said they meet once a week and this time allows them an opportunity to share their personal experiences and talk about their trauma without judgment.
"That puts a different image in my mind of what other people are going through and how it affected them," Foster said. "It's just different perspectives on what other people are going through."
Guns D.O.W.N stands for Doing Outstanding With Nonviolence and was created through a partnership with the high school and Terry Green. Green started the nonprofit Think Make Live Youth and now goes to Independence to work with the students.
"Last year the school lost two young people due to gun violence here at Independence High School," Green said. He has been doing this work for 12 years and was a homeless youth in central Ohio. He said he can now lead this group from what he learned during his own life experiences.
"I was a young person who experienced firsthand being affected by gun violence, watching my brother lose his life to gun violence, watching so many family members and friends lose their lives to gun violence," Green said. "I'm passionate about creating a safe space for young people to talk about healing and to be able to have a space where they can be able to get connected to resources, opportunities and thrive."
During the summit on Wednesday, the students plan to share what they have learned through presentations, guest speakers, performances, and a call to action.
"I've been on my own since I was 15 years old. I know what it's like to watch people lose their lives to gun violence," Green said. "I know what it's like to be out in the streets and not have nowhere to eat, nowhere to sleep, nowhere to go. So being able to go through those challenges and circumstances and now be a leader to help and support other young people, that's my purpose of life."
One of their goals is to build their community and teach their peers how to deal with this trauma and address student violence and mental health issues.