KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Community groups in the Kansas City area are reflecting after a student was killed in a stabbing at Northeast Middle School on Tuesday.
“You can’t help but to ache, your heart can’t help to ache,” Joseph Straws III, with Men for Change said. “You’re just like wow, how did we get there?”
Nikol and Joseph Straws say it’s hard to point to one thing when it comes to violence.
The pair have been in KCMO schools for 20 years acting as mentors, talking and using men and dads in the community for their new initiative, Men for Change.
“This [violence] is not new, this is not a new situation,” Straws said.
But they say perhaps the visibility on social media and the severity of violence is.
“Now it’s not only a little more progressive, it’s a little more propagated,” Straws said.
After a stabbing inside F.L. Schlagle High school last winter, Straws pulled community leaders together.
“I’m going to go into the schools, we’re going to start talking to parents that are dropping their kids off,” Straws said. “Instead of dropping them off, let's walk them all the way to school. We plan to start a little bit outside the school, then inside, because really we see a lot of issues before and after school.”
Many have heard it before, that communication starts at home, but the Straws have found sometimes it’s not that easy.
“Are we even talking to our kids when we pick them up?” he said. “Things like, What went down in school today? Show me your Snapchat, anything weird going on?”
They say they want to help increase the safety.
“We’re not just watching it on the news, crying saying ‘Oh, that’s terrible.' The community is saying 'We got you, we’re here,” Straws said. “These aren’t just somebody else’s kids, they are residents in your community, they are the next business owners, the next care providers.”
For those who would like to help, the Straws said people can reach out to schools to get a background check.
