LAWRENCE — Staying safe and staying positive. Indianapolis teenagers are getting support from positive role models who are teaching them life lessons during a turbulent time.
In the middle of an unprecedented year, communities are now slowing down their search for solutions to an ongoing issue — keeping young men on the right track and out of harm's way.
"A lot of the young men we work with are in the system or they work with us from a prevention standpoint and not in the system yet and we want to promote constructive fellowship," Kareem Hines, of New Boy, said.
Hines has been leading the mentorship program New Boy, which stands for New Breed of Youth. On some days, the young men sit and talk about what's happening in the world and how they fit into it. Other nights, they are releasing energy and emotion through boxing.
"We named it Guns Down, Gloves Up so it gives us another avenue to talk to the young men about the gun violence and the danger of guns," Hines said. "Because back in the day when we were coming up we used [fists], you know you didn't really hear about a friend dying from gun violence. And again, not promoting violence but I can almost guarantee if these gentlemen have a dispute with somebody and they fight it out they'll both wake up tomorrow morning and they might even become friends."
Tyler Alexander has been in the program for years. He's a positive role model who has earned the nickname Big Brother T.A. He knows that spending time here is often the safest option for the younger guys.
"A lot of kids that I talk to say that they are bored is the reason they're making the decisions that they make getting themselves into the system," Alexander said. "So this program is to get the kids to come out and burn off that energy so by the time they get home we feed them and then once they're done they're really not trying to do nothing but go to sleep."
If there's proof that mentorship works you'll find it in 16-year-old Davion Shaw, who joined the program when he was nine and did not like being around people. Now, he's a social guy who wants to become a mentor and help those who are just like him.
"It changed most of my life and how I look at myself," Shaw said. "It changed the person who I am. it changed me to be more social."
