Leaders in Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, on Tuesday met with students at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, fielding concerns about recent acts of violence in the community.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and State鈥檚 Attorney Aisha Braveboy said they鈥檙e launching a series of conversations with students who are directly affected by violence.
The meeting wasn鈥檛 public, but Alsobrooks and Braveboy said it was clear that the pandemic had a significant emotional impact on students. In many cases, students want to be more connected with their parents.
Braveboy called the conversation powerful and consequential.
Tuesday鈥檚 gathering came weeks after 16-year-old Jayda Medrano-Moore was shot and killed near DuVal High School. Police said the teenager arrested in connection with that shooting is a student at Flowers High.
鈥淚t was very sad to hear the number of students who said we have parents and family who do not listen to us, who do not know us, and who are too otherwise engaged to give us what we need,鈥� Alsobrooks said. 鈥淚t’s very sad. And so that means that the solution to this is one that won’t be solved just in the school building.鈥�
After hearing from students, Alsobrooks urged parents to listen to their kids and ask how they鈥檙e feeling.
Tiffany Evans, whose son P.J. was killed by a stray bullet in Landover in 2021, said engaging with the students made her realize that some of the issues in the community start at home.
鈥淚t’s a lot of parents just not taking accountability for the lack of parenting,鈥� Evans said, pointing out that some parents don鈥檛 know their kids鈥� favorite color.
鈥淜ids don’t even know what a hug feels like from their parents,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淭hey’re getting it from the community. So, they just get exposed to the wrong people. And the parents just got to put more love into the house.鈥�
Some students, Alsobrooks said, explained that social media made them feel like they grew up too quickly. It could result in students making spur-of-the-moment decisions, she said.
Students also said that social media provides them with the platform to create a different persona, according to Braveboy.
鈥淗aving that gun, being on social media with those weapons, gives off a persona that they want to show the world who they are,鈥� Braveboy said. 鈥淲hat they really want, from what we understood, was more time, more quality time with their parents.鈥�
Parents should also be aware of what students do when they鈥檙e on their cellphones, Braveboy said. She urged parents to put restrictions on their kids鈥� phones, and download software so they know how they鈥檙e being used.
鈥淚t is not an invasion of privacy,鈥� Braveboy said. 鈥淚t is called good parenting.鈥�
Although it wasn鈥檛 talked about much during Tuesday鈥檚 session, Braveboy said that absenteeism was an issue.
鈥淚鈥檓 not saying locking parents up, but what I am saying is that holding parents and children accountable for being in school because if they’re not in school, where are they?鈥�
Evans reminded parents to take care of themselves, too.
鈥淵ou experience things, and that’s how you can shift the gear a little bit with your style of parenting. But for me, I had structure in my house. And it’s a lack of structure right now going on,” Evans said.
