by Hollis Wormsby, Jr.
Elephant Story Offers Lesson on How to Reduce Violence
Some years ago there was an elephant preserve in Kenya that had grown too large, and in the eyes of those charged with overseeing the herd was in need of being divided. Without giving much thought to the situation it was decided that a group of most of the older males along with a few females for mating purposes would be moved to another location. And that the younger males would be left behind with older females and a few young females so that mating would at least be slowed.
Up until this point there had been no trouble out of the elephants whatsoever, and they and the people in the nearby village peacefully co-existed as neighbors. Not long after all of the older males were removed the villagers began to have problems with the young male elephants. The young males had begun to leave their preserve and storm through the village, damaging crops that were desperately needed for survival. As the problems continued to get worse the villagers and the preserve managers desperately sought out solutions. Some suggested building a wall strong enough to hold the males, but this was not feasible. Others suggested moving the males further from the village, but this also was not feasible, where would they move them, where they would not be a problem. Finally some began to suggest that troublesome males be executed. Does any of this sound familiar in a different context?
Well, at this point an elder of the village with at least a little common sense suggested that maybe if they brought some of the older males back it would help solve the problem. The villagers were skeptical but given that the only other choice was to begin actually killing the young males they decided they would give it a shot, and some of the older males were brought back to the preserve. As soon as the elder males returned the young males’ behavior changed, as they once again fell in line behind their elders and followed their behavioral guidance.
We have spent a lot of time in the past weeks talking about violence from some of our young men and what can be done to stop it. I believe there are parallels between what we are seeing with our young men and what the village was seeing with the young elephants, and the solution is probably the same; we have got to get these young men under the guidance and mentorship of grown men. There are other parallels as well, as in what do commenters say should be done with out of control Black youth, that’s right kill all the thugs, just like the villagers wanted to kill all the young elephants.
We must approach this problem along two parallel tracks. First of all we have to address the reasons so many of our young men do not have male influences in their lives, as in too many single parent homes, and too many children being born into situations where no one really cares about them and makes them a priority. And then secondly we have to reach out into our challenged communities and touch one child at a time. If we know the family is not doing the right thing then someone must do the right thing on behalf of the children.
Or at least that’s the way I see it.
Over the next few weeks I would like to highlight organizations that work with our youth. If you know of an organization that is doing good work with our youth and would like to see them receive some recognition, just forward me their information, either on Facebook or by the email address listed below, and for the next few weeks I will use this space to recognize their efforts and to share their insights on how they think we can make progress in reducing the violence in our community.
(Do you have a question or comment on this column? Look me up on Facebook/HollisWormsby or email me at hjwormsby@aol.com.
