tired of bullying or student bullying, as well as violence in the streets and stations of the subwaya group of young people call for peace and inclusion.
And they do it by forming a new group called Uptown Youth Power, or the Youth Power of Upper Manhattan, which has the support of parents and elected officials.
Juan Herrera, 17, and a student at George Washington High School for Media and Communications, led this meeting on Saturday, seeking more attention to this problem.
“There are many problems that are happening here at the school right now and not many people are talking about it, and all the children are already tired. Me and my friends, we want to talk about these problems”, says Herrera.
Wanda Perez, President of the George Washington High School Parents Association says:
“To me as a mother, that is what is most important to me, to support. And how important it is to tell all parents who have special education children that they are not alone, their children are not alone.s, there are many parents who have the same situation that as long as parents can support each other, we will do so, ”he says.
The action responds to the recent incident that occurred on March 10, in which a 15-year-old African-American boy, who suffers from autism, was the victim of physical and verbal attacks by three young people at the train station. subway on 181st Street. Activists also consider this fact an act of racism.
“When they saw that video, they really had a very strong reaction to seeing what happened at the A train station last week and they said that this is not what they want to represent, they even said that their generation has to be better and that adults have to be better and support their generation,” says Johanna García, an education activist.
Harassment of a teenager on March 10 in the subway
On the other hand, Robert Jackson, a Democratic State Senator, advocates for early childhood education:
“This is about giving young people a chance to lead and knowing that it’s about all of us together: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, LGBT, straight, rich or poor coming together in the community and saying that this kind of violence It’s completely unacceptable.”
Uptown Youth Power demands that both youth and adults create policies and actions that lead to peace, unity, and above all, safe and inclusive spaces.
