Youth Violence Prevention in Boston

The Problem – Youth Violence in Boston

Violence is a fact of life for far too many of Boston’s youth – 65 percent of Boston Public School students report witnessing an act of violence in the past year and 31 percent say they witnessed violence within their own neighborhood. Violent crime has been growing at a disturbing rate among younger people and black males in Boston. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of shooting victims age 17 and younger nearly tripled, and nearly half of the City’s 2007 homicide victims were black men 24 years old and younger, placing Boston among six major cities with a sharp spike in the number of young black males killing one another.  Boston’s youth violence is also concentrated, with 78 percent of crimes occurring in the two-mile corridor along Blue Hill Avenue. 

The Opportunity

From a public health perspective, youth violence is not an intractable fact of life, but a social problem that can be prevented.  Boston is fortunate to have a city government, led by Mayor Thomas Menino, with a strong commitment to tackling youth violence through community policing, prevention efforts, and other proactive strategies. Boston also has a very effective and engaged donor community with a deep history of involvement in a wide array of youth violence prevention efforts, including primary, secondary, and tertiary strategies. While these initiatives represent a strong scaffold on which to build, they are too often operating in isolation from one another. There is a need to connect all of the dots; ensure a balance among primary, secondary and tertiary initiatives to yield long-term change; and leverage our collective resources.

We are well aware that there is no silver bullet and that real change will take time. In the words of the Governor’s Anti-Crime Council, “It takes a bold leader to earmark funds today for tomorrow’s success.”