Good News, Please! |

We'd like to try an experiment. We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about gun violence here at DCTV, and it gets pretty depressing. We can understand how people who deal with gun violence in their neighborhoods on a regular basis find ways of coping with it by becoming desensitized or indifferent.

Our teenage participants have been writing blogs and creating videos about how gun violence affects them and submitting them to BeyondBullets.org, but we'd like to start asking them - and YOU - to share stories with us about the good things in your neighborhoods as well.

We all know that crime and violence aren't the only things coming out of our cities, but the media can sometimes make it seem that way. Let's start paying attention to the good things that happen in spite of violence in our communities, and the good choices kids are making in spite of negative influence.

For example, one of the high school students we work with just came back from a trip to the Netherlands with the United Nations' Model UN Program. This is a Bushwick teen who could have been influenced by negative things in his community, but instead got involved with programs at the United Nations, International Center for Photography and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. He's going to write about his experience on this overseas trip as one of our "good news" articles.

What did you do today that made you happy? Did you learn about a new community center in your neighborhood or help a friend get a job? Did you work on an art project or have a nice talk with a family member? Tell us about it. Post a comment below and we'll spread the word!