Violence in Chicago's South Side

In response to the Driving Change Topic, Adam Walls wrote to us and shared:

In the context of fighting violence on the South Side…I think your article is very relevant: 
Force:     More cops, “let’s take guns and drugs off the street”, legislate gun control–make “gangs” equal to “the enemy”.
Persuade:  provide a better alternative to gang banging–nobody is doing this at scale…not the church, the YMCA, government, CCDA, etc.
Educate:   realize that these kids aren’t A) evil or B) stupid .  understand that gangs are actually a better alternative for 50% of the kids on the South side and people generally make informed decisions before they decide to put themselves on a street corner for $3 an hour selling weed and getting shot at.  Realize that they are in fact making an informed decision….is it really that hard for us to realize that these kids are really smart?  I actually think it is.
Change the decision matrix and you’ll change the community–provide a better alternative because right now there isn’t one…keep telling kids that the better alternative to their crappy life is wrong “because we said so” and more kids and cops are gonna get killed.