YOUTH KILLED IN QUEENS

How many times have you heard this story? The mother of a 13 year old boy greaves for her son pleading for witnesses to step up as her son was viciously shot and killed on his way to McDonalds Friday October 2, 2009. Kevin Miller was an astute student who kept his grades up and played basketball with friends in his backyard. No kid should have to die under these circumstances, but he did. At the ripeful age of 13, Miller was just getting to know what life is about as a freshman at Humanities and the Arts and Magnets School in Queens. He was given money for good grades and excelling in academics when he stumbled upon a fight on his way to McDonald's. As of today, the police have a 16 year old boy in custody as a person of interest, but he isn't being charged. I was a kid myself and I understand why my mother used to be so protective of me when I was coming up. Losing a child to the streets are every parent's worst nightmare. These things do happen and my heart goes out to the family but that will never compensate for their loss. "He was an innocent bystander, in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Donna Greaves, his mother, whose 35 fighting back tears as she recanted the story to reporters. In the thrill of watching a fight, Kevin Miller was shot in the head around 3 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Long Island Jewish Medical Center a short time after. Another kid was also shot in the leg during said incident and remained in stable condition yesterday. I dont condone violence nor do I tolerate it, especially when it comes to young kids. Its sad to know he will never get to experience his prom as his life came to an abrupt end at such a young age. I'm sick and tired of hearing these stories, because it just goes to show that no matter how much you try to instill values in these kids heads they still want to be gun toting thugs. I attended a rally with Al Sharpton not too long ago and T.I. was there along with several other guests. I remember Queen Pen stating to the crowd that we as adults need to take control of our children. We're afraid of our own kids so they run rampant on the streets causing mayhem and destroying families. If we don't give the kids something to look up to, there are gangs out there that will. It takes a village to raise a child, but these values are often lost and not enforced. The theme of the rally was "Responsibility is not a Choice, Its a Lifestyle". It was in response to two kids who were killed in Harlem in a span of a week last April. Christopher Owens was 13 years old as well and took a bullet to the head after a Lenox Ave. barbeque was interrupted by a hail of stray bullets. Taking a life doesn't make you powerful, in fact it renders you powerless since you have to go to those extremes to prove something. That mentality needs to change because when you end up in prison Suspended In Time for the rest of your life, you'll reflect back on what you did and kick yourself in the ass for something that could've been avoided. Life is precious, its not a game...