Dialogue about teen crime continues
The program has been held annually since 2001.
Published Feb. 24, 2008
The second part of the "Let's Talk Columbia!" community dialogue took place on Saturday. The program, focused on bridging the gap between teens and adults on important community issues, began Friday evening.
Youth Community Coalition Chairwoman Heather Windham said she was eager to continue the program on Saturday after Friday night's success.
"We had a lot of people from different perceptions and backgrounds and that was our goal," she said.
Saturday continued the small group activities and large group discussions that had begun the previous evening. The beginning of the day focused on problems and fears teenagers face on a day-to-day basis. The discussion addressed issues such as race, education and relationships teens have with the adults in their lives.
Later in the day, the large group was broken into smaller groups of seven to 10 people to talk about issues specific to the city of Columbia.
Small groups were presented with crime statistics in Columbia and then had the chance to discuss crime trends in their area as well as personal experiences. At the end of the day, groups worked together to come up with steps they could take to help reduce violent crime in the Columbia area.
Sponsored by the City of Columbia's Human Rights Commission and the Youth Community Coalition, this program has been held annually since 2001.