As residents of Orleans Parish, we are aware of the escalating crime rates in our city. Unfortunately, the majority of these crimes are being committed by teens. For example, there has been an increase in murders of family members and friends, affecting the lives of many. An increase in robberies- including both homes and cars- leaving people without transportation and a loss of valued items. There has also been an overall theft of personal property. The youth of our parish is changing the way we want to be represented. The crime in New Orleans has gotten to the point where residents are feeling unsafe in their communities. This is not only a problem for the politicians in the city, but for New Orleans’s own. Residents need to come together as a community to create a plan that makes Orleans Parish the place it was destined to be. 

The majority of the damage and crime occurring in our city is committed by the youth. Therefore, the solution to the problem is investing in the youth. For starters, the education system needs to be improved. Currently, some of the facilities that teens are attending are less than adequate for learning. Many schools do not have the resources they need such as up-to-date technology, books, and learning materials to help them reach their full potential. Nor do they have qualified teachers who are willing to invest their time and effort into the students. These facilities that the kids are forced to learn in are not maintained and they do not have the proper funding to be able to have the support for the extracurricular activities that the kids enjoy such as athletics, musicals, and other clubs, which causes their attention to somewhere other than school. Increasing the pay for teachers is a great way to attract more qualified, involved, and talented teachers for local schools. In addition, starting more after school programs and activities that require more parent involvement should be necessary for students and parents. For example, sporting events such as basketball and football games and school-related programs such as math and English learning workshops should have a minimum requirement for the parent’s attendance. Along with starting after school programs, internship programs that teach trades that lead to careers should be easily accessible to teens. For instance, mechanical, electrical, carpentry, and plumbing are helpful trades that can offer a number of job opportunities. Mentorship programs should also be put into effect. This program could allow kids to be taught by experienced, hard-working men and women about how to prepare for job interviews for their selected trade. Also, mentorship programs would give kids someone to look up to and someone they can get advice from about day-to-day issues. These programs would benefit the youth in a number of ways by giving them something to occupy their downtime and generate a cash flow which keeps them from doing illegal things to get what they want. These programs will also keep them around positive influences that will guide them and teach them right from wrong, which in turn will aid in decreasing crime rates. Apart from the youth, rehabilitation programs for currently jailed individuals including GED classes and internships for jobs after prison, such as cutting the city’s grass and cleaning the streets and highways is a solution to reduce the crime rates for prisoners after they are released. All in all, a number of programs and systems should be set up to help the youth and jailed individuals to reduce the crime rates in New Orleans.

All of these solutions to the crime rates in New Orleans will mainly target the youth to decrease the crime in Orleans Parish by keeping teens engaged and out of trouble. For example, improving the education system by increasing teacher’s salaries would allow for more passionate and qualified teachers. This would help and encourage the students to keep up with their academic life, thus opening more windows in the future. Also, starting more after school activities, which include more parent involvement should be necessary for students and parents to attend. School games and workshops can help students build a relationship with their parents, showing the students how the parents care about their school and extracurricular life. This creates a bond between the child and parent, meaning the parent would be more involved in the child’s day-to-day life. In addition, creating internship programs to teach teens trades benefits the students by allowing them to have more job opportunities, and no need to get caught up in criminal behavior. As well as internship programs, mentorship programs should be put into effect. These programs would give students someone to talk to and get advice from.  The mentor and the student would both have a bond that he or she can talk to them about anything, which would keep them out of trouble by allowing for the student to be kept on the right track by the mentor. Also, rehabilitation centers for imprisoned individuals offering GED programs and internships for jobs gives prisoners something to look forward to when getting out, while also producing a source of income. A steady income from the job the internship provided would prevent the current prisoners from getting released and back into what put them in jail the first time. All of the above improvements would bring down crime rates in New Orleans while putting the youth on the right track for a successful and stable life.