[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 44 (Thursday, March 5, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1592-S1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GAME CHANGERS STUDY

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I recently had the honor of being welcomed 
by Game Changers, an organization based in Louisville, KY, devoted to 
guiding our youth toward productive and meaningful lives, for a panel 
discussion on the impact of violence in our community. The executive 
director of Game Changers is Christopher 2X, whom I have known for many 
years and watched change the lives of so many Kentuckians through his 
advocacy, leadership, and community building efforts. In December of 
2019, just a few months ago, Christopher showed me the findings of Game 
Changers's study on the impact of youth violence recently released by 
his organization. Subsequently, I asked him to organize

[[Page S1593]]

an event in West Louisville with a panel of community leaders and 
parents to discuss the report and how violent crime affects the lives 
of Louisville youth.
  At the event, we not only discussed the findings but also heard from 
Louisvillians whose real-life stories are contained in the pages of 
those reports. Earnestine ``Tina'' Tyus described how the ongoing 
physical and the mental suffering of her grandson, Ki'Anthony Tyus 
resulted after being shot. Rather than excelling at football and 
basketball, Ki'Anthony was focused on learning how to walk again. 
Violence also has indirect consequences. Stevonte Wood started failing 
out of school, treating those around him poorly, and had trouble 
sleeping at night. This downward spiral was a result of witnessing the 
murders of his mother and older brother. Jarron Jones, a behavioral 
therapist, recounts a story of how a once-promising baseball career for 
one student may now never come to fruition because he is too afraid of 
violence to continue playing the sport. Only personal stories such as 
these truly demonstrate the extreme toll taken on children exposed to 
violence.
  That is why I feel compelled to share Game Changers's findings on 
violence and its impact on our youth with my colleagues. Tragically, 
children are exposed to violence in every corner of our Nation. I ask 
unanimous consent that this report be printed in the Congressional 
Record with the hope that every Member of Congress will read it and 
work with me to create safer communities for our children.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  Violence Impact on Children Learning

   The Christopher 2X Game Changers Target Education--Crush Violence


      KI'ANTHONY TYUS AND HIS GRANDMOTHER ERNESTINE ``TINA'' TYUS

       Tina Tyus has a comfortable home in West Louisville where 
     photos of grandchildren she has raised are on display or 
     within easy reach.
       There's Ki'Anthony as an infant along with one of the last 
     pictures of him, at the family's Thanksgiving gathering last 
     year, a lanky teenager smiling next to a proud grandmother 
     who ``had him since he came into this world.''
       Their world, from the time Ki'Anthony was 9, has been 
     devastated by gun violence.
       At age 9, Ki'Anthony was shot by a stray bullet while 
     playing basketball in a park and suffered a debilitating leg 
     injury. Four years later, on Dec. 22, 2018, he died when the 
     stolen Lexus SUV he was riding in crashed into a utility pole 
     on Fern Valley Road after a police chase. Four other 
     juveniles in the car including the driver survived.
       His family is grabbling with the circumstances of his death 
     and does not understand how or why he ended up in the stolen 
     car.
       Known as ``Lil King,'' playful and fun to be around, 
     Ki'Anthony was a symbol of resilience in a media spotlight 
     during anti-violence efforts after he was shot. He was an 
     active participant in a Christopher 2X ``Hood2Hood'' 
     antiviolence movement. He visited other gunshot victims in 
     the hospital to offer encouragement and comfort.
       He also struggled with his wounds, both emotional and 
     physical, and navigated among peers who were not always good 
     influences.
       His gun shot injury put him in the hospital for several 
     days. He had multiple surgeries in the aftermath followed by 
     months of physical therapy. He had a rod in his leg for a 
     year and a bullet was left there permanently because of the 
     damage it could cause if it was removed.
       The boy who loved to play football and basketball ``wasn't 
     able to play any sport and that devastated him. He had to 
     basically start all over again walking,'' his grandmother 
     said. He was ``angry, very angry.''
       He began disobeying rules in her home, and feared getting 
     shot again, she said. His grades suffered, and she said a 
     contributing factor was his assignment to a middle school far 
     away from home that required a long commute on two buses each 
     morning and afternoon while he was using a walker because of 
     his leg injury. He acted out, she said, so he could be sent 
     to another school.
       His two sisters--11 and 16--also have been impacted. 
     Neither are doing well in school, and ``they are just hurt,'' 
     she said.
       A happy time was last Thanksgiving, a few weeks before 
     Ki'Anthony died, and she had made his favorite foods 
     including a strawberry cake for the large annual family 
     gathering in her home. ``He was jumping around here, 
     dancing.''
       At Thanksgiving, she told Ki'Anthony she would buy him a 
     purple suit for Easter like the ones he saw and admired at a 
     gospel program they had attended, ``not knowing I had to bury 
     him before Easter. He died on my mother's birthday. It just 
     eats me up.''
       385--Number of people shot in Louisville in 2017, an 
     average of 32 people each month.
       355--Number of people shot in Louisville in 2018, an 
     average of nearly 30 people each month.
       276--Number of people shot in Louisville in the first nine 
     months of 2019, an average of more than 30 people a month.


               JAMIE DENTON WITH HER SON ROBERT LEACHMAN

       Jamie Denton chokes up talking about the impact her son's 
     violent death has had on his three younger brothers and how 
     she's struggled.
       Robert Leachman, 20, died on Aug. 2, 2017, from multiple 
     gunshot wounds at Parkway Place Apartments two weeks before 
     he was to start nursing school. The family believes the 
     shooting stemmed from an earlier argument on a basketball 
     court.
       Jamie's three other sons, who were 9, 11 and 16 at the 
     time, were close to their brother and their behaviors all 
     changed in different ways after his death.
       ``It took something out of them,'' she said.
       Before the death of their brother, they were good students 
     with good grades, she said. Afterward, her 16-year-old ``shut 
     himself off and didn't go out, was scared to take TARC and 
     had to have a ride with someone to go anywhere. He no longer 
     wanted to attend Ballard and instead now attends Jefferson 
     County High School.
       The 11-year-old became out of control in school, not 
     listening, but now is doing better, she said. The 9-year-old 
     withdrew but also began writing rap songs about his brother 
     and at the end of the school year he chose the topic ``Stop 
     the Violence'' for a project.
       She and her children have all had counseling and their 
     public schools have been helpful but her children ``are hurt 
     and stressed and looking at me, they see more stress because 
     they are worrying about me,'' she said.
       They moved after the shooting, she said, and now feel safe 
     in their neighborhood but not safe enough to visit a nearby 
     park. Her older son warned her to stop walking in the park 
     because of a gang that frequents there. ``So, I don't go to 
     that park,'' she said.
       A few weeks after her son was killed, when she was still in 
     her old home on Madison Street north of Broadway, during a 
     neighborhood cookout on Labor Day weekend, shooters fired 
     bullets at homes including hers and shot up cars. ``We were 
     terrified,'' she said.
       ``I switched up my house and I switched up my car. I had 
     to, to survive.''
       In the aftermath of her son's death, her health declined, 
     and she suffered a heart attack at age 39 last spring.
       ``Kids will keep you strong because they know what you're 
     going through. They want to see you the same.''
       Murders from gun fire are a ``totally different'' level of 
     dying than by other means. ``It's the cruelest thing, that a 
     person can die of that.''
       1,616--Number of times in the first six months of 2019 that 
     an electronic gunfire detection system alerted police to 
     shots fired in an area totaling six square miles, an average 
     of nine times a day, 269 times a month.
       The system called Shotspotter operates in parts of the 1st, 
     2nd and 4th police districts in West Louisville, and 
     Smoketown and Old Louisville just east and south of downtown.


                             STEVONTE WOOD

       Stevonte Wood, 23, earned a college degree in three years, 
     has a fulltime job as a security officer, and is recently 
     married--a happy, fulfilling life that was highly unlikely 10 
     years ago.
       Stevonte was 13 when he witnessed a horrendous act of 
     violence, the shooting deaths of his mother and older brother 
     after an argument on a basketball court at his family's 
     Shively apartment complex. After that terrible day, for 
     Stevonte, ``things really took a turn.''
       He was on a grieving, trauma-filled downward spiral marked 
     by anger, bad conduct and failing grades. Family support, 
     counseling, caring teachers, others in his life--and his own 
     hard work and determination--helped Stevonte rebound.
       Before the shootings, he had been a good student, making 
     A's and Bs, which he credited in part to his mother who 
     ``made me book heavy.'' His father worked long days, taking 
     two buses to and from their home to his construction job.
       After the shootings, Stevonte was deeply troubled and 
     struggling. He was still living in the apartment where his 
     mother and brother were killed, and he had trouble focusing 
     and sleeping. When he did sleep he often had nightmares. He 
     argued with his father, who had been injured in the shootings 
     and was grieving. (They now have a close relationship).
       Angry and withdrawn, he failed 9th grade. He went to school 
     but had trouble concentrating. ``I was there but I wasn't 
     there. I was constantly thinking about what happened.'' He 
     wanted to communicate but he said he didn't know how; his 
     words were angry, and he said he felt ``a lot of self-
     hatred.'' He worried about his father's safety and that 
     someone might retaliate against his family in another act of 
     violence.
       From Butler High School he was sent to Western High School 
     to repeat 9th grade, which turned out to be blessing, he 
     said.
       Counseling helped him manage his grief, overcome his anger 
     and detachment so he could focus on schoolwork, he said, and 
     teachers encouraged him while holding him responsible. A 
     turning point came when one told him he didn't want to fail 
     the same grade twice, that would ``not be good, trust me.''
       ``I started listening in class, participating and my grades 
     climbed up.''

[[Page S1594]]

       He was motivated to make up for failing at Butler. ``The 
     people I was surrounded by were well-rounded people. Once I 
     put myself around people who wanted me to succeed, that was 
     one heck of an opportunity. I didn't want to miss out on 
     it.''
       With good grades, he pursued advanced placement classes in 
     his junior year at Western and started racking up college 
     credits through courses taught through Jefferson Community 
     Technical College. When Stevonte received his high school 
     diploma in 2015 he had 31 college credits toward his degree 
     from the University of Louisville, which he earned in 2018.
       His decision to major in criminal justice was influenced by 
     the good relations he had with police officers after his 
     mother and brother were murdered. ``I began to idolize the 
     good police and those who interact with the community,'' he 
     said. Police were kind to his family and checked on them, he 
     said, and he thought he could be like them and help people.
       He has shared his story with other survivors of gun 
     violence to offer hope and encourages awareness of the signs 
     of trauma in children.
       Anger, withdrawal, depression are key signs, he said. 
     Schools and parents also need to be connected. ``When you get 
     that disconnect, that's when you start losing kids. We need 
     to find who these kids are and take the time to understand 
     their situation and help them to the best of our abilities.''
       4,558--Number of times citizens reported hearing gunfire to 
     Louisville Metro Police in 18 months, from Jan., 2018-June, 
     2019, over 200 times a month.


        JERRON JONES--LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATE

       As a behavioral therapist, Jerron Jones spends much of his 
     time trying to help families and children suffering from 
     trauma resulting from exposure to violence.
       The symptoms of trauma in children vary based on age and 
     the individual child but a ``huge sign'' is an inability to 
     develop a relationship with an adult and show respect for the 
     teacher, Jones said. Children in those situations, he said, 
     often lack a consistent, nurturing adult in their lives.
       A lot of kids lack confidence and self-esteem and don't 
     hear encouraging words or praise for what they do well and 
     the strengths they have, he said, and ``that leaves them 
     without a skill set to build on.''
       Jones advises adults in their lives to celebrate them with 
     compliments and praise for their efforts. Children should 
     also be comforted by adults who remain calm and patient even 
     though the circumstances can be difficult, he said. Listening 
     to them and showing an interest in what they like to do, he 
     said, as well as working with them and sharing new ideas can 
     help them build self-esteem.
       Parents and teachers should be aware of signs of trauma, 
     and seek help when needed, he said, but often parents don't 
     feel comfortable revealing upsetting circumstances that may 
     be a root cause of a child's trauma. Building trust and 
     showing integrity, he said, goes a long way in addressing a 
     traumatized child's needs.
       ``Early exposure to extremely fearful events affects the 
     developing brain, particularly in those areas involved in 
     emotions and learning. . . . For young children who perceive 
     the world as a threatening place, a wide range of conditions 
     can trigger anxious behaviors that then impair their ability 
     to learn and to interact socially with others.'' Source: 
     National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2010). 
     Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children's 
     Learning and Development: Working Paper No. 9.
       Jones cites the following age-related symptoms children may 
     have in response to a traumatic event or series of events 
     including exposure to gun violence:
       Five and under: May be irritable, fussy or difficult to get 
     calmed down. They may be easily started or show behaviors 
     common in younger children such as thumb sucking. Clingy 
     behavior and frequent tantrums may also be present, and they 
     may talk or act out a traumatic event.
       Ages 6-12 may have trouble paying attention or be 
     withdrawn. Their performance may decline in school. They may 
     be in trouble at school or home, fearful, sad or want to be 
     left alone.
       Teenagers may refuse to follow rules, talk back more often, 
     talk about the event or deny it happened, withdraw, engage in 
     risky behaviors, change sleeping or eating patterns, have 
     nightmares and may turn to drugs or alcohol.
       Professional help should be considered, he said, if 
     symptoms persist, get worse or the child's symptom are 
     extreme and unresponsive to attempts to help.


 NYREE CLAYTON-TAYLOR--2019 KENTUCKY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE 
                                  YEAR

       Teaching predominately African American students in West 
     Louisville, NyRee Clayton-Taylor recognized symptoms of 
     suffering--anger and lashing out, or withdrawal and not doing 
     the work. Kids would tell her about an uncle who was shot, a 
     father lost to gun violence, parents in prison. Some couldn't 
     find words to express themselves.
       So, Clayton-Taylor, a resource teacher at Wheatley 
     Elementary School, created a curriculum around their joys in 
     life, their interests, their culture. Her energy, creativity 
     and impact earned her recognition as the 2919 Kentucky 
     Elementary School Teacher of the Year.
       ``Academics will not happen if a student is not healed,'' 
     she said. ``I decided to infuse academics with healing so 
     they could get it at one time.''
       Her solution was to use hip hop, the popular music genre 
     especially among African American youth, as a primary 
     teaching tool, along with rap, graffiti artwork, and books 
     about African American history and culture to help children 
     focus, write, create, work in teams, and solve problems, all 
     beneficial lifelong skills.
       ``I had to bring in hip hop. It was a must so that they 
     could have a narrative that was their own,'' said Clayton-
     Taylor, now in her 20th year of teaching.
       In a nationally represented survey, 8.2 percent of all 
     children, from age 2-17, were reported to have witnessed gun 
     violence or heard gunshots in their communities. Youth ages 
     14-17 had the highest exposure at nearly 17 percent. Source: 
     Finkelhor D, Turner HA, Shattuck A, Hamby SL. Prevalence of 
     Childhood Exposure to Violence, Crime, and Abuse: Results 
     from the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence. 
     JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(8):746-754. doi:10.1001/
     jamapediatrics.2015.06 76.

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