Kenyetta Gaines
Youth Leader
NSO/Youth Initiatives Project
Hello my name is Kenyetta Gaines I live on the eastside of Detroit and I am a female teen living with challenges everyday just like every average female teen. The major challenges that female teens face today are very difficult.
One of the challenges is females being disrespected by young boys or even men. Some of us can’t even walk the streets without being disrespected or even worse. Men would try to talk to you even if you tell them you’re under the age of 18. It’s so much peer pressure out here and if you’re not strong minded you’ll fall for anything like drugs, unprotected sex, gangs and everything else. It’s like if you don’t do this or if you don’t do that, you’re not going to be cool. But, you’ll be the coolest person once you graduate from high school and go on with your career.
Female teens please don’t let anyone talk you into anything you feel you do not want to do. As a young female, you want to carry yourself with respect. Also have pride in yourself and confidence. There’s a lot of stuff out here that can really bring us down. Another thing is being your own leader. Lead with dignity, self respect and love. Never let any one tell you anything different about yourself. Love self and love others.
Everything that I have written is simply my experience with what I went through and I had to learn for myself. I am 16 years old. I have been with Y.I.P since the 8th grade but when I left middle school all that changed. I met up with old friends from elementary and middle school and got caught up with a gang. Would you like to know what that gang did to me? That gang got me all Fs on all 4 of my report cards. I stopped going to school. I fought other girls, while coming home from school, because that’s what I thought I should do. I was hanging around the wrong group of people. Now, I know better.
I got into a fight one day at school. My friend and I fought some other girls and got kicked out of school. After we fought, they called our homes. My mom contacted on my cell phone and told me to get home. Instead of listening to my mom, I decided to follow my friend and go to the house of a girl who had fought me earlier, since my friend lived down the street from her. We fought again and some how I ended up in a back of an ambulance truck. I got my face split open with a razor blade and I still have that scar, till this day. Every time I wake up or pass a mirror and see the scar on the side of my face, it reminds of that day, November 10, 2006, my mom’s birthday and the day I got cut. Do you want to know the silly part about all of this? The girl I called myself helping and who was my friend at the time did not a scratch on her body that day. I have a scar because I jumped into some one else’s mess that had nothing to do with me. A gang will not get you anywhere but dead or in jail.
I can say I learned a lesson, because when I see that scar on my face it makes me want to do the right thing. It makes me want to say o.k.; another day’s journey and this journey will be a blessed one. I always look in the mirror and say to myself, “You’re beautiful, intelligent, confident and willing to do anything, if you set your mind to it. I decided to get back into Y.I.P and here I am today telling you my story. I thought I would never tell anyone what I just shared with you, but everyone has a story about their life. Youth Initiatives Project will help you through anything you need in life. The program prepares you for the future. It teaches you how to grow up into a respectable smart young female and to see life more clearly.
Our goal is to get as many young females as possible who are in need of help and a positive perspective. We have resource information. Also, we defiantly give support, group sessions and leadership training to girls who want to leave gangs.
I’m putting out a call to all the female teens to be a part of this campaign and make it work.
If you need any information please contact the NSO/Youth Initiatives Project at 313.965.6924.
Peace
Hello my name is Kenyetta Gaines I live on the eastside of Detroit and I am a female teen living with challenges everyday just like every average female teen. The major challenges that female teens face today are very difficult.
One of the challenges is females being disrespected by young boys or even men. Some of us can’t even walk the streets without being disrespected or even worse. Men would try to talk to you even if you tell them you’re under the age of 18. It’s so much peer pressure out here and if you’re not strong minded you’ll fall for anything like drugs, unprotected sex, gangs and everything else. It’s like if you don’t do this or if you don’t do that, you’re not going to be cool. But, you’ll be the coolest person once you graduate from high school and go on with your career.
Female teens please don’t let anyone talk you into anything you feel you do not want to do. As a young female, you want to carry yourself with respect. Also have pride in yourself and confidence. There’s a lot of stuff out here that can really bring us down. Another thing is being your own leader. Lead with dignity, self respect and love. Never let any one tell you anything different about yourself. Love self and love others.
Everything that I have written is simply my experience with what I went through and I had to learn for myself. I am 16 years old. I have been with Y.I.P since the 8th grade but when I left middle school all that changed. I met up with old friends from elementary and middle school and got caught up with a gang. Would you like to know what that gang did to me? That gang got me all Fs on all 4 of my report cards. I stopped going to school. I fought other girls, while coming home from school, because that’s what I thought I should do. I was hanging around the wrong group of people. Now, I know better.
I got into a fight one day at school. My friend and I fought some other girls and got kicked out of school. After we fought, they called our homes. My mom contacted on my cell phone and told me to get home. Instead of listening to my mom, I decided to follow my friend and go to the house of a girl who had fought me earlier, since my friend lived down the street from her. We fought again and some how I ended up in a back of an ambulance truck. I got my face split open with a razor blade and I still have that scar, till this day. Every time I wake up or pass a mirror and see the scar on the side of my face, it reminds of that day, November 10, 2006, my mom’s birthday and the day I got cut. Do you want to know the silly part about all of this? The girl I called myself helping and who was my friend at the time did not a scratch on her body that day. I have a scar because I jumped into some one else’s mess that had nothing to do with me. A gang will not get you anywhere but dead or in jail.
I can say I learned a lesson, because when I see that scar on my face it makes me want to do the right thing. It makes me want to say o.k.; another day’s journey and this journey will be a blessed one. I always look in the mirror and say to myself, “You’re beautiful, intelligent, confident and willing to do anything, if you set your mind to it. I decided to get back into Y.I.P and here I am today telling you my story. I thought I would never tell anyone what I just shared with you, but everyone has a story about their life. Youth Initiatives Project will help you through anything you need in life. The program prepares you for the future. It teaches you how to grow up into a respectable smart young female and to see life more clearly.
Our goal is to get as many young females as possible who are in need of help and a positive perspective. We have resource information. Also, we defiantly give support, group sessions and leadership training to girls who want to leave gangs.
I’m putting out a call to all the female teens to be a part of this campaign and make it work.
If you need any information please contact the NSO/Youth Initiatives Project at 313.965.6924.
Peace
10 comments:
Nicely said Kenyetta. You are a courageous young lady!!
Good job Kenyetta! Keep up the good work! Your story has really touched me. Pass it on to your friends and to other girls in need.
--Mariama
I would like to say, you are an inspirtation to me and a lot of other teen. You are right when you said that everybody has a story to tell, and that's right. I am honored to see that you have realized your mistakes and accepted that you've done wrong. I want you to kepp up the good work and always remember "your future is what you make out of it".
Hello! I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of your leaders on Saturday, Mr. Frank McGhee. He encouraged me to visit your blog and I'm glad that I did. I applaud your courage and commitment to helping other teens do the right thing!
Please keep me posted on events that you have. You can send them to stephanie@stephanieljones.com.
I look forward to hearing about more great things from you all! Please take a moment to visit my website. Also, visit http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806220335 to learn about the teen shut-in at the Northwest Activity Center on Friday.
God Bless You!
Stephanie L. Jones
www.stephanieljones.com
Kenyetta congrads for stepping up and being above the influence.It took alot of courage to admit to something like that.I hope god blesses you with the most wonderful future ever.But be sure to always be the leader you were destined to be.
im so proud of u to relize what u should and should not do keep up the good work girl.
Thanks for sharing your story, we (other female teens) can honestly relate and are inspired by your evolution into a more responsible young lady.
I really like your story it really touched me because I was in that same perdicument about in gangs, not going to school, bad report cards, not listening to my guardian, but all those things I did it had ended me up in a shelter away from my parents but till this day I wished I would have listened to my parents.But some people want to learn the hard way. So let them because like you said they will end up dead or in jail because you cant help nobody that is not willing to be helped.
Halla
Kenyetta Gains I think that as a teen that didn't know what she wanted in life had to experince something so harmful like that and tell others teen men and women about the gang violence is wonderful.
I just want to acknowledge you gor being so courageous.You are an inspiration and a leader.Congrats!!!
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