You hear in training that for some of these kids, you're going to be the first person to ever tell them that they can do more with their life, they can be better. I had my meeting with Big M today, AP wasn't in school today so it ended up being just me and M. As I walked into the lunch room to look for him, he gets up and starts play fighting with his friend. Things escalated and it appeared like they were about to start actually fighting but with the help of my teammates, we separated them and I told him to wait out in the hallway for me. That set up our conversation about violence and his life. His older brother, 17, is locked up for 5 years for selling drugs. He hasn't seen his dad in 2 years and he was never around when M was growing up, he thinks he's somewhere in Arizona now. His mom picks him up from school but doesn't like seeing her because they don't get along. He lives with his grandma, who doesn't know he's in a gang. He doesn't sell drugs but he fights adults. "You have to fight in order to get respect." The last fight he was in was 2 weeks ago. This year he has already been in over 20 fights. M is only 14 years old. He doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, all he knows is that he likes guns, and he's a perfect shot. "Maybe a sharp shooter for the government..."

 "I've never thought about it... I know I can do better...but I don't want to...it's never occurred to me." 

"I fight because it's exciting." "There are a lot more things to life that are exciting, M." "I know I can do 

"I'm here, and we're going to work on finding things that are better for you, M. Life can mean more than just violence. We're going to find something for you. I want this for you, but you need to want it to, so we're going to work on that this year because I know you can do better."