The kids remembered Tony as a nice kid and here he was on the front page of the newspaper, being sentenced to 25 years to life for killing someone. TKF s response was immediate. It held its first Violence Impact Forum at the school just two weeks after receiving Roblauskas call. He talked about being in jail, lying against the cold concrete wall at night and crying wondering if he s dead or alive and asking God for forgiveness, says Brian Horsley, TKF s assistant executive director. We never had to deal with what kids today deal with on a daily basis, says Gayle Johnson-Cox, a San Diego City Schools resource teacher from the Department of Race, Human Relations and Guidance.
Violence is their reality.
The forum was designed to tell kids who they can turn to, how to deal with peer pressure to join gangs, about the devastating consequences of violence and to let them know they have choices and don t have to choose violence. According to Horsley, what had the most impact was the discussion with the ex-gang member. The kids had so many questions, we couldn t get to them all, he says. Yeah, they feed you, replied the ex-gang member. But it s worse than cafeteria food.