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Community Change

Everyone plays a role either positive or negative in their communities. Choose to play the positive role.

By Paris PatrickPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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You can make a change. Yes, you, every single one of you, can make a change in not just your life, but your community. Don’t believe me? You will believe me after I explain how you can, I promise it’s easy. Just be you. Making a change in our community starts with the most important people around us. We are all the same, we want to have good change in our lives. I believe that this topic should be valued because it’s not valued by our society and it truly should be because everyone should be treated not only with respect but also kindness and to feel cared about. Today, I will explain to you why being a change in your own community is a huge step in not only being a change in society, but around the world. Our society lacks so much, our world is broken because people are not valuing what they were taught to value.

Changing the Community Starts with Respecting the Police

In today's society, everyone fears the police, especially if you’re young and or a person of color. Sarah Childress, a senior reporter at Frontline News states that, “Dealing with kids is challenging, and there’s a scientific reason for it. Neuroscience has shown that the frontal lobe, which governs problem solving and judgment, isn’t fully developed until a youth is in their mid-20s, and in some cases even later. That means kids’ brains are ruled by their amygdalas, the part responsible for the “fight or flight” response. So they tend to act more impulsively, take bigger risks—and sometimes make terrible decisions. Confronted by an officer, they might mouth off, resist or simply run away, all actions that have led to arrests and even violence” (“Why some officers are policing kids differently”).

Everyone is human, when one idiot does something stupid and they’re part of a certain group or minority, it ruins what people think of everyone else in that area. Trust is also a huge value that society lacks, when people are in need of help they would rather not call the police because they fear them. When officers go on a call, they usually have to start off with jokes to help calm a person down and gain the trust. Gaining trust is difficult because nobody knows what could happen, so in order to change that starting with the police, they should go to different church youth groups in the area, hang out with the youth at the park, just prove that they are there for them and that they care so if the time comes that they need help they won’t be as afraid to ask them. Under the heading, “Promoting and Supporting Youth Development,” Paul Konz, author at National League of Cities (NLC), lists a few different ways police can work with the youth/teens in the community such as, “Mentoring, tutoring, and youth/police dialogues” (“National League of Cities”).

Officers don’t want people to be afraid of them because they are there to help. For adults, Konz lists some ways to build personal relationships between officers and residents which to name a few are, “Coffee with a cop, help give away food, police attending community meetings, and police worshipping in local churches g/singing in local choirs” (“National League of Cities”). Thomas MacMillan writer at National Swell talks about how some police departments such as the one in Hawthorne, California do coffee with a cop where communities can share their concerns with an officer and hear what they have to say without fear. MacMillian then quotes John Dixon who works at that department states, “It opened up a lot of lines of communication” (“Five Ways To Strengthen Ties Between Cops And Citizens”). By having officers go out and getting to know the youth and adults in their own communities will help lower the fear against them. Citizens then will be able to learn their role in their community.

Changing the Community Starting with the Citizens

Citizens need to just stay away from drugs. I by no means will say that doing so is easy, because we are all surrounded by peer pressure. Just because someone is an addict does not mean that they are any less of a human. Showing kindness towards them and proving that people care is a big part to becoming clean and or sober. When citizens show kindness and that they do care about their fellow citizens, it will give people hope. It will give them the hope that they will get through what they are going through. Age has nothing to do with how big of an impact one can have on their own community. All that is needed is a caring and kind heart toward others, love conquers hate, be addicted to kindness.

Making a Change in the Community Through Kindness

People need to spread kindness throughout their community. There’s a quote by an unknown author that says, “Throw kindness around like confetti.” If people do that, it will truly give more people hope. Think about it, is there a single person in the world who doesn’t want to be treated with kindness, cared about, loved, etc? Many people aren’t and that is how we as society need to band together and start doing. Kindness is the first step of change. Growing up, we are all taught to be kind to each other yet there’s those who still bully and ridicule people just because of their differences. We are all the same, just different beliefs, skin colors, mindsets, we come from different cultures, the list is pretty much never ending. We breathe the same air, why not take the chance to breathe out some kindness to those in need? People don’t go around telling everyone about their life struggles, their fears, what’s bothering them, etc. Just throw a smile, be yourself, have a conversation if you’re not in a rush, remember life isn’t revolved around ourselves and for some reason our society doesn’t understand that and kindness needs to be valued. Kindness will become contagious. Most of us, if not all have seen The Grinch or A Christmas Carol, even those with cold hearts can become kind; there’s a lesson in both of those movies. Kindness obviously will get you farther through life. Change can be made not only in the community, but around the world.

Today, I have told you how you too can be a change not only in your community but around the world. Change in the community starts with respecting the police, second with the citizens, and lastly with kindness. It can’t just be our first responders who are doing it, everyone has to work together and show that they are and can be positive examples. If I, not only as a young adult, but a person of color and a college student, can start making a change in my community, you can make a difference too. I’m not going to promise that you aren’t going to be ridiculed because there are people who will do so, also they will start telling you that you have an obsession. I’m going to tell you that it’s a good obsession to have. The problem with our world today, is there are way too many people who don’t care and it’s passed down to the lower generations. Stop being part of the problem, get off your butt and go spread kindness everywhere you go.

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About the Creator

Paris Patrick

I'm a huge believer that our world needs more kindness, it starts with one person. Spreading kindness starts with you. Every single one of us. How can you spread kindness? I'm new at this, so let the adventure begin!

Facebook: @onexheart

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