The Hood: Whats Good and Whats Not So Good

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The HoodWhats Good and Whats Not So Good

• BY
• The Quest A-Tech Club

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Meet the A-Tech Club

• Some of our members (from left)
• Jusuf, Isaah, JJ, and Kayla

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Joshawwna (JJ)
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Kayla
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Yusuff
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What we did

• We took pictures of things we liked and didnt
  like about Hamilton Hill
• We talked about those things
• We made labels for all our pictures
• We talked about what to do next
• We showed off the pictures at the Arts Night Out
  event and told people what we thought

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Why we did it

• Dont nobody care about us. Were from the
  Hood.
• Because the crazy gray haired AIDS lady said
  people would pay attention to us if we did it.
• It was fun.
• I like taking pictures.
• So I could show people good and bad stuff about
  where we live.

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Welcome to the Hood
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Welcome to Quest
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If they close Quest well lose all of our art!
(KT)
Welcome inside Quest
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This is some of the nice art in Quest. We did
this.
(KT)
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The day I took this picture, the sun was shining
and I felt good. (KT)
This looks like a grave to me. (DC)
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Empty buildings become crack houses. (IT)
Quest is right next to a drug house. (IT)
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One of my friends lived in this house and it
burned up and he died. They still havent torn
the building down. I go by it every day on my
way to school. (IT)
On the other side of town, as soon as a building
burns up they tear it down. (IT)
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This is my friends room. The landlord wont
paint or make repairs or anything. (JM)
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Cuz people cant pay the rent they move a lot.
(IT)
You cant feed your family on this job.
Sometimes its the only job we can get. (DC)
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Sometimes people live in public housing. Its
not safe there. (IT)
Sometimes they end up in jail for selling so they
can pay the rent and buy food and stuff. (IT)
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(IT)
I like that there are all different kinds of
people here. (IT)
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Some people are too poor and cant buy food.
They eat here.
(IT)
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Graffiti ruins some of the nice building.
(IT)
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(IT)
We cant buy no name brand clothes. This is
where we buy most of our clothes.
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This is a nice park, like in the summer when we
have cookouts.
The equipment is old and run down. Its not safe
for little kids. Instead of fixing or replacing
the slide, you took it out.
We need security cameras for the park.
Sometimes its not safe. Druggies and gang
members hang out here. (IT)
(IT)
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A few months after we talked about the things
that needed to be fixed at this park at the Arts
Night Out Event, the people in the government
fixed up the park! They repaired the water
fountain, got rid of the graffiti, fixed the
equipment, and cleaned up all the garbage. Now
we have a great place to play and even months
later the park is still in perfect shape!
Thanks Schenectady government.
(IT)
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The streets and backyards are full of garbage.
You dont see that on the other side of town.
(KT)
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They spend all the money on making downtown look
good. What about us? (IT)
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1
Guess how many theaters there are on ONE BLOCK
downtown! (IT)
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2
(IT)
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3!
(IT)
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We dont get any fancy movie theaters in Hamilton
Hill. We just get dirty movie places. (DC)
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Anybody can come to Quest and get help if they
want. (JM)
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(JK)
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(JK)
And they can join the A-Tech Club, too!
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Maybe we can teach them something good.
(JK)
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He wrote a song about using a Jimmy! Too cool.
(JM)
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We have parties at Quest. Thats GREAT! (JM)
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We have dance classes at Quest. Dance, dance,
dance! (KT)
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Some of the boys dancing for the girls. (JM)
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I like being a Mentor! (IT)
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Mentors help the little kids. (KT)
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Mentors read, play games, and do fun activities
with the little kids. (KT)
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Top 3 Problems in the Hood

• Gangs violence
• Dropping out of school
• Drugs

Top 3 Solutions in the Hood

• Good Gangs
• Teen Legislature
• My Block

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The Problems in the Hood

• Violence
• Gangs are in the park, schools, they attack kids,
  they deal drugs, they have guns
• People think all the kids on the Hill are violent
• Only thing you see on TV is the violence
• People think everybody is a member of a gang or a
  drug dealer because thats all they talk about in
  the newspaper
• I got jumped
• They wanted my bike
• It happens all the time

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They jumped me for my bike!
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Gangs

• Some people join gangs because theres nothing
  else to do
• Some people join gangs because theyre afraid not
  to
• Some people join gangs because they need
  protection from other gangs
• Some people join gangs because they need to make
  money for their family to eat or pay the rent or
  to buy clothes
• Sometimes the gang is their only family

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Solution

• Create good gangs
• My Block
• Each block has adults and kids who are the good
  gangs
• Good gangs walk kids to places on the Hill
• Good gangs do good things on their block
• Pick up garbage
• Help each other with homework and do mentor stuff
  like what we do at Quest
• Help old people with chores and things

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Solution

• Offer a lot of free after school programs and
  different activities in Hamilton Hill and make
  sure everybody knows about them
• Offer self-defense classes for free so kids can
  protect themselves
• Offer more kids jobs and the chance to make money
  for their families especially in the summer
• Offer kids the chance to do group community
  service for school and for their community so
  they do good things and theyre safe because
  theres a group of people together

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Drop Outs

• Too many kids are dropping out of school
• They cant get good jobs
• They dont get a GED or their diploma
• They end up selling drugs or breaking the law to
  live
• They end up pregnant and cant finish school

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Solution

• Some kids dont learn like other kids
• Teach a bunch of different ways so kids who learn
  differently can still learn
• Dont give homework in schools because too many
  kids have to work or babysit and they cant do
  homework
• Offer school during regular hours and at night
  and on the weekend and offer free babysitting
• That way kids who have to take care of their
  younger brothers and sisters or their babies can
  still go to school

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Drugs

• Theres too many people selling drugs to pay
  their bills
• Kids sell drugs too
• Some people use drugs and it screws up their
  families and then the kids do drugs cuz their
  older cousins or brothers or something use drugs
  and they think its cool
• Drugs means guns and violence and crack houses
  and such
• People dont snitch on each other in the hood

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Solutions

• Get the kids off the streets from the time they
  leave school to the time they go home for bed at
  night
• Give them something useful to do like join a club
  or a group or get help with their homework or be
  a mentor or a volunteer or something
• Do that in their own neighborhoods and make sure
  everybody knows about whats going on
• Have a movie night on Friday and Saturday nights
  where kids can watch free movies and get off the
  streets at community settings (Quest)
• We need JOBS!

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Final Solution

• Create a Teen Legislature with teens who live in
  Hamilton Hill, Mount Pleasant, and Vale
  neighborhoods
• Get their help, ideas, opinions to solve the
  problems in their neighborhoods
• Help them get out the good messages about what
  teens can do instead of all the negative messages
  in the news