CLEVELAND — Students at Miles Park School in Cleveland were among several locations in the Greater Cleveland Area that had kids sign a pledge to end gun violence. Yvonne Pointer, a community activist, shared her personal experience of losing someone to violence. Her daughter, Gloria, was murdered in 1984.

What You Need To Know

  • Cleveland students pledged to end gun violence

  • Over 2,500 pledges were distributed in the Greater Cleveland area 

  • The hope is that it brings awareness to students about gun violence

“When you look at the number of gun violence that has occurred, these people are connected to families. They have a mother, they have a father, they have a sister, they have a brother, they have people that are concerned that their loved ones aren’t here any longer,” Pointer said. 

Pointer is a community activist. She joined Black Mothers United, a group of mothers who have lost their children to violence.

“Gun violence is not OK, losing your child to violence is not OK, and that we can do something about it. We need to be the change that we want to see in our communities,” Pointer said.

The group encouraged students across the country to take the pledge. Over 2,500 pledges were distributed to schools, rec centers and other locations in Greater Cleveland. One of the locations was Miles Park School. School principal, Tamika Taylor-Ivory, said it’s all about prevention.

“That’s the biggest thing. We don’t always want to be in the phase of reaction, we want prevention, so the more skills that we provide at an early age, if they are ever faced with one of these challenges they will know what to do and how to avoid it,” Taylor-Ivory said.

The hope is that students who take the pledge will be more aware of gun violence in their community and won’t become a statistic.

“If one person’s life is spared, then we deem this a successful day,” Pointer said.