COLUMBUS, Ohio — Violence prevention is a hot topic for many cities across the state, including Columbus.
Statistics released earlier this year showed a rise in crime in Columbus from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, the city's homicide rate jumped by nearly 7%.
What You Need To Know
- Think Make Live Youth’s Guns D.O.W.N program is trying to reduce the crime rate and stop the bloodshed
- Students involved in the group at Independence High School in Columbus designed hoodies to help curb violence
- 'Guns D.O.W.N' is a program that is also offered at other Columbus City Schools and community centers and spaces
Meanwhile, Think Make Live Youth’s Guns D.O.W.N. program is trying to reduce the crime rate and stop the bloodshed.
Guns D.O.W.N. stands for “Doing Outstanding With Non-violence.”
Anthony Townsend is part of the group at Independence High School in Columbus.
Townsend and some peers at school helped create a group sweatshirt design to raise awareness and curb violence.
“It’s bringing awareness to kids that died to gun violence,” Townsend said. “I’m really passionate about it because I feel like it should stop.”
The program focuses on creating a safe space for students. Terry Green, CEO and Founder of Think Make Live Youth nonprofit, helped launch the initiative.
“We talk about issues within a community,” Green said. “We connect them to valuable resources to help them develop their careers, to set goals, to really prepare them for the future, but also to have those intimate conversations about trauma and about processes to heal from trauma.”
Green explained the program targets youth for a reason.
“For young people who experienced trauma and experienced gun violence and watching people lose their life to gun violence,” he said. “It’s a challenge because young people don’t have a safe space to be able to have conversations around growth and development after that.”
While Townsend said he hasn’t personally been affected by gun violence, he’s still inspired to help.
“It makes me feel good about myself, because I feel like everybody should be happy,” he said. “You know what I’m saying? We’re all humans. We all deserve happiness.”
Looks like Townsend’s already making a difference in the form of a hoodie.
“The message I hope (the hoodie) sends is I hope it finally helps people understand that it’s not okay to use guns to sort out what type of anger you have,” Townsend said. “I feel like if you really have a problem with someone, your first thought shouldn’t be to kill someone with a gun because we are all kids at the end of the day. We all have the rest of our lives to live.”
‘Guns D.O.W.N’ is a program offered at other Columbus City Schools and community centers and spaces.
If your organization would like to incorporate ‘Guns D.O.W.N.’ for their youth, click here.