- by T Beals, 13, HRM

Growing up in the hood just isn't the place to be for kids my age. I’m only 13 trying to get to school each day. Scared to come out at night thinking it’s not safe. It really isn't safe but all my life I've been here in the hood with my friends & my family. And my wish is they would be able to just leave this place.

Some kidz are out all night telling me to come out but I'm not trying to get into trouble with them. They’ll be going around hitting and saying it's fun, beating on old people, that ain’t fun. Kidz down here just  don’t understand. They’re 12-14 smoking weed and drinking. All you hear them say is “I wanna be a pimp; I wanna be a thug or maybe a gangster.” So they can get whatever they please from them girlz…while girlz my age are talking about "I wanna have a baby for him."

 We have kidz down here cursing at the age of 4-9, while other are running with gunz saying “I’ll pop you” ! I don’t know why people just don’t stop and think about... what if it was their mother or grandparents that got jumped robbed or shanked? Because I know if it was mine, I would be very sad to hear she was gone and that I couldn’t see her face anymore. It wouldn’t be fair because it just wasn’t her time.