A wise man once said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” East Flatbush is my home, and will be forever have a place in my heart because its where I was raised. Culture is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about my neighborhood. There are many positive things in my eyes and few negatives. The problem with culture is the negatives that the younger people follow because it is what they were raised to see. As of lately I have seen less corner hanging drug dealers because as rumor goes, they’ve been in jail. An example of them doing exactly what their older brothers or sister did. It is a gruesome cycle that can lead to the demise of a community. Jobs are scarce, so more and more people are looking to make a quick buck doing illegal activities. They fondled with the idea that “behind every great fortune, there’s a great crime,” and ultimately made crime a life style.
Studies show that the crime rate in Flatbush is on the rise and more arrest for drugs are being made than ever before. It is either, the police are doing a great job or more people are taking part in drug paraphernalia. Not to deny that the police department is doing a great job but at the same time I personally see more drug usage, more specifically marijuana. Marijuana has become almost as common as smoking a cigarette. Marijuana has turned into the social drug. If you aren’t smoking, you aren’t “cool”
Discipline starts in the home. Parents need to be made aware of the different arising issues that go on in the neighborhood. Nurses and agencies can come into the local school or other places of gathering and let parents know the issues in the neighborhood so that they can begin to enforce better rules in their home. Nurses can talk to the younger woman with low morals and help them understand that their value is not determined by a man and they don’t have to have sex because there are diseases out there and pregnancy can ruin lives. Not much of this goes on currently in my community. I feel that it can help the situation because the first part of anything is understanding why it is so pivotal.
