BY AHMED WARSAME
It’s been said by many of the older residents of Minneapolis that the young kids and teens are the future of the city. But, what happens when those kids eventually turn on each other? I have been independently watching kids from the age groups of 8 to 17 years old turn their backs on their friends, siblings, and even try to cause harm to others by name-calling, harassing, threatening and trying to start fights with them (In Minneapolis, fist fighting is considered a felony). Mostly I have seen it happen in Matthews Park, a 10-acre park that was created in 1961 after great effort from neighborhood advocates, and others. The kids whom I have seen starting trouble are alumnae of its K-8 grade school, Seward Montessori. Now they mostly attend South High School, but their actions have caused kids as little as elementary school level to act like little hoodlums, (talking back to adults, starting fights, picking on innocent people, etc.). Now, the kids who started these dreadful actions are of Somali descent, and are between 12 and 16 years old, and I am of that ethnic group, and age group, but these kids (based on their actions, they are not young adults, they are little kids) should know they are making a lot of innocent people in their own age group start to feel pathetic. Matthews Park should do something about this. They are not doing anything about this, and they have got to put an end to this. This does not just go on in Matthews Park, but ALL parks within the Minneapolis Park System. This does not just go on at Seward Montessori, but schools like its nearby school Anne Sullivan. These kids’ parents should be ashamed of this, because their kids’ behavior is being put into a newspaper. The parents have got to do something, and I mean SOMETHING, or else they will see their kids in jail, or dead. I barely see any parents at parks, schools, or any place where young kids spend time, doing anything to help out their kids and stop this bullying nonsense. We all want to treat others the way we want to be treated, but now it’s like it’s gone. Like I said, the kids who started this trouble are of Somali descent, just like me, and their parents have to start doing something, or else like I said, their kids may not have a future. If the attitude and behavior of these kids continue into adulthood, then it could be the end of Minneapolis. Those kids’ parents, and others within South Minneapolis, have got to stop sitting down and twiddling their thumbs, because with the attitude this generation has, it could be the end of Minneapolis as we know it.
Warsame’s appeal here is to Somali parents to pay attention and do something about their kids behaviors. I applaud my alderman for his position on this and I agree with him. But I also see that all of us have some responsibility here: to report observed bad behavior, to intervene when possible, and to communicate in every way possible that bullying is unacceptable. Perhaps Matthews Park could plan more park activities that bring whole families out to play together?
It’s a good thing to be concerned about and try to correct but please be aware that nothing you mention is new, Mr. Warsame. Even before Matthews Park was built, when Seward School was a 3 story yellow brick building with a much smaller footprint, when Seward and Longfellow were almost solidly white and most of us had never heard of a place called Somalia, kids behaved pretty much as you describe here. To my knowledge most of those kids went on to live gainful lives and Minneapolis remains a good place to live.