BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It’s been over a week since the shooting at Independence High School took the life of 17-year-old Levi Brown.
Days later, a shaken community is trying to come together to discuss the best ways to move forward and protect kids.
“We’re not going to have a solution tonight. We might, I don’t know,” said forum organizer Desirae Wiley. “But we are going to talk about everything, all our concerns.”
The Worship Center of Bakersfield usually holds a little more than a hundred people come Sunday service but for Monday night’s forum, its chairs were filled — not with churchgoers but with community members looking for solutions.
“I hope we can come away with some actionable steps that we can start even with our young children, with our teenagers, different programs. We can connect them with,” said teacher Michelle Johnson.
From nonprofits looking to lend a hand to single-parent families to attendees putting together a baseball game for young children, emotions and discussions filled the crowded room.
One of the biggest topics of discussion: how to keep kids off the street and out of gangs.
Some said parents need to step up to keep their children out of trouble and others blame social media and pop culture.
“When we look at the statistics of students in their high school districts, we see that literacy rates are significantly low,” said Cal State Bakersfield student Nevaeh Louis Williams Cardenas.
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Terra Johnson, the executive director of Agapeland Christian Academy, said change starts at the “grassroots.”
“Now is our time to do our part. Just like history showed that when community came together, change was made,” Johnson said.
The group plans on attending the next Kern High School District board meeting on Sept. 7.