Beyond the Line

Recent research has shown that more than 35% of people living in Philadelphia fight everyday. In today's world the conflict between Richard and the gang of boys could have happened in our community. People in this society are fighting everyday. The only difference between the story and Philly is that most of the time people fight over something stupid. Not because their parents want them to stand up for themselves. But because they just wanted to show off. Doing things like that is what causes so many shootings. Everyday innocent people get shot. Selfish acts such as those cause deaths. Deaths are what cause families grief. All shootings and deaths lead up to murders. These days if someone gets shot someone else gets murdered.

First of all most fighting results into shootings. Not a day goes by that I am not afraid to walk out of my house. I don’t even watch the news anymore because I got so tried of hearing those horrible things that are happening. Mothers losing their children, innocent people and children getting shot, and police officers getting killed. Just recently an overnight shooting in Philadelphia killed two men and critically injured another. The shooting occurred on the 6800 block of Paschall Street in Southwest Philadelphia. This was where the police found a thirty-year-old man shot once in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:23 a.m. This needs to stop!

Fighting also causes deaths. A North Philadelphia drug corner led to the deaths of three men during a particularly violent stretch. That has left seven people dead in the city since Thursday. Five of the deaths were found out to be drug-related. The remaining three victims were later on discovered to be connected with the Mutter Street Boys. In 1998 I lost my cousin, Omar, to the selfish acts of some inconsiderate people. He died on his birthday; he only got shot because the people thought he was someone else. Because of those people I lost my cousin, he didn’t even make it through the night. Even though I was only five-years-old and I never got to get to know him I can still feel the pain.

Finally, fighting causes murders. Four Philadelphia police officers have died on the job in the past year. This year between the months of January and June assaults on officers have gone up nineteen percent compared to last year. Division of Public Safety (DPS) officials say the number of assaults on campus police has been rising as well. Since September 2007, ten Philadelphia police officers have been shot on the job, including Sergeant Patrick McDonald and three others who were killed. According to Lt. Frank Vanore, one thousand and three assaults on officers were reported through July 1 of this year. This has gone up compared to the eight hundred and ninety at that point in 2007. The more people fight and try to get out of trouble with the law the more risk of murders there will be.

Fighting is one of the main reasons why so many shootings, deaths, and murders happen. It’s like a cycle if you think about it. Fights cause shootings, shootings cause deaths and deaths cause murders. We as a community need to come together. Put it down and stop the violence!