Pittsburgh leaders are working on a solution to the problem of youth violence in the city.<\/p>\n
It was the topic of an hours-long discussion inside city council chambers on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The roundtable comes two weeks after six teens were accused of attacking a woman inside a store in East Liberty and a new chaperone policy was put in place in Market Square.<\/p>\n
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 6 teens accused of attacking female inside Pittsburgh Sephora, causing $30K in damage<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re acting out because they think nobody cares,\u201d Councilman Khari Mosley said. He led the discussion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to show these young people we care, and we have to hold them accountable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Walking that line between care and accountability can be difficult. One example is Market Square\u2019s current chaperone policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Some have said it\u2019s unfairly penalizing teens who aren\u2019t there to make trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a beautiful public space but then say a certain subset of residents can\u2019t participate works against the concept of what public spaces are about,\u201d Mosley said.<\/p>\n Advocates at the discussion referred to those who cause problems as the \u201c2 percent,\u201d stressing that it\u2019s the vast minority of teens.<\/p>\n They say the \u201c2 percent\u201d makes decisions based on a number of factors including home life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consequences are much more favorable than their current circumstances,\u201d Mosley said.<\/p>\n The roundtable did not feature any teens, but Allderdice senior Aaliyah Taylor was in the audience. She addressed the group after the meeting adjourned.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these people we\u2019re dealing with are dealing with parents being incarcerated, parents dying, friends dying,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Taylor told Channel 11 she\u2019d like to see teens at the table.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a miscommunication when it comes to adults and teenagers. A lot of teenagers see adults as wanting to tell them what to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Taylor said there were some practical solutions she thought were good ideas including increasing the number of youth centers around the city, so teens don\u2019t have to take public transit to get to them.<\/p>\n Meantime, Mosley says it\u2019s a work in progress and is going to require flexibility from all parties involved.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a national issue. There\u2019s not a single city in America that has figured this out yet,\u201d Mosley said.<\/p>\n He also told us he does want to see young people involved in these roundtables moving forward.<\/p>\n Mosley is also cautioning youth ahead of the summer months to behave so stricter policies won\u2019t have to be implemented.<\/p>\n Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n