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Wesley Hand
Professor Malvin
English 115
21 November 2015
One at a Time
Los Angeles City and the county surrounding it has had a representation of being a
rough area for quite a long time. Most would agree that this title comes from the high rate or
mortality and gang activity committing over 100,000 violent crimes a year, along with the
incredible crime rates and imprisonment. All of these factors contribute to the fact that Los
Angeles is one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. With so many people being involved in
these activities, their children are also being exposed to this violence. Most of these families
cannot afford things like daycare or baby sitters, causing them to witness terrible things that no
child should see. That being said many programs have been started in hopes of bring down this
crime rate, and the violence overall. Public outreach centers and community centers have popped
up all over the city in effort to give the youth an outlet to escape from the lives they live at home.
Although these places do reach some of the children, they could be improved on to assist a larger
population of our youth. With more appealing programs and activities for the children, there
would be a larger desire for these kids to attend an outreach program.
By removing the children from their hostile homes as much as possible, we are keeping
them from falling into the traits of their parents, or the community they are exposed to. The kids
would be subliminally learning about the violent activities they witness, and are more likely to
commit them themselves. In order to bring down the violence rate in our city we must start with

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the children. If we can break the cycle of violence that has been taking place in the city then we
will slowly be able to make these numbers become less substantial. If children are not exposed to
violent activities, like they would be stuck in a violent home, then later in life they will not have
violent characteristics. These people would then have children and would be less inclined to
teach them violent ways, effectively breaking the cycle we have been stuck in. the first step of
this process being giving the children a place to interact with other children where violence is not
present. Without forcibly removing the children from their homes, they will make the choice to
be less violent, along with making many friends and lots of activities at an outreach center.
Breaking the cycle of children being exposed to violence is the only way to effectively lower the
violence rates in our city.
A novel titled Always Running By Luis J. Rodriquez does a splendid job of following
the tale of Luis and the home he is raised in along with the city surrounding him and how it
influences him into a world of crime and violence. Luis later finds his outlet through the natural
talents he had all along, that being one for reading and writing. This allowed him to escape the
dangerous culture he was trapped in and better his life, an also go on to have a family. He later
opened an outreach center for the children in the neighborhood also in need of a place to escape
to. Rodriquez recognizes the only way to prevent violence is to stop it before it can be exposed to
the youth. He also stated in his book, there are choices you have to make not just once, but
every time they come up (Rodriquez pg. 132). Luis is referring to the ability to make the right
decisions, and not only in certain situations but every time it is required. This is a lesson he had
to teach himself in his later years after he realized the choices he was making were hurting him
and people around him. He has gone on to teach this lesson to the youth of his area, although this
program should be expanded. This is one of the most important lessons for children, and the

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decision making skills are the hardest to develop. If we can teach the children how to properly
develop these skills and the right choices to make, they will go on much like Luis did to live a
happy life without violence.
Another piece written by Anna Smith called Twilight Los Angeles, 1992 describes
personal accounts of the Los Angeles riots in 1992 over the beating of Rodney King. Smith
reenacts interviews she conducted with many people involved and does a splendid job of
properly depicting images and ideas of the interviewees. After an African-American man was
beaten badly by law enforcement in down town Los Angeles, and the trial held was very biased
for the police officers the city was in uproar. A large riot broke out among the community,
causing immense damage and hurting many people. Annas book covers all aspects of this event,
from the beating to the end of the riot shes receives many inputs from different types of people
involved. An interview with Reginald Denny, one who was attacked in the fiasco, states in his
interview Strange things do happen on that street (Smith 105). This shows he observed
mysterious actions in his time spent in the city and how it related to his personal experiences.
This riot was a perfect example of the decision making skills of the party, although the
circumstances were quite drastic. The offence against Mr. King was very tragic and incredibly
wrong, but the way the public handled the case was even worse. The community decided the
most productive way to show their anger for the case was to cause damage to anything they cold
and attack anyone they believed to be opposing.
Many children are raised in cities like Los Angeles and have no idea the world they live
in would be considered wrong to social norms. This kids would be committing violent crimes
starting at a young age, most of the time before they have properly developed their decision
making skills. A great example of this group would be a young man by the name of Johnathan

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Cook. This man, now age 32, was raised it Van Nuys on the outer skirts of L.A. county. Growing
up as a boy he was heavily exposed to gang violence of the area due to both his father and his
mother participating in gang activities. At the young age of 7 Cook began his life of crime, led by
his parents. He started with small home invasions, entering through dog doors and taking things
of great value to sell as his own. These tactics were taught by his father and they continued as the
partnership until Johnathan began grade school. While in his middle school he had many
problems adapting to the rules and regulations and lashed out. After assaulting his principal and
attempting to flee from the arresting officer, Cook was sent to a corrections facility where he
stayed for two years. After a long struggle in high school cook decided to drop out and pursue his
career on the streets. With larger more valuable burglaries, and larger prizes to be won many
experienced persons would say that cook had been trapped by the city. The temptation to do
badly for immediate satisfaction outweighed the future he could obtain. After entering and being
released from prison for many various things including theft, drugs, and assault, Cook decided he
had enough. Cutting off all ties to the bad influences he called friends along with moving into a
more positive environment with realities, he had begun to turn his life around. Johnathan later
enrolled for college as an Art Student, and was accepted at Peirce College in Van Nuys. He is
now working very hard to better his life and become the person he has wanted to be.
Although Johnathan never mentioned what finally made him decide to straighten his life
out, we can come to the assumption that the boy the city had trapped outgrew the temptations he
once found so inviting. Cook found no interest in re-visiting confinement centers and knew he
could correct the problems on his own. When asked what he believes could keep kids like him
from falling into the city streets Cook presented the idea of outreach community centers. Places
where children could escape the lives he was forced to live in order to express who they really

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want to be. Had he had a place to perform his talents and begin exploring the world of art, Cook
most likely would not have followed in his parents footsteps. The outreach centers main purpose
would be to break they vicious cycle of violence the kids fall into. Generation after generation
following their elders down a road of violence and crime. Johnathan experienced this cycle first
hand and exclaims that the best way to break this cycle is to allow the children to break it
themselves. He had to choose to leave his parents lifestyle behind and the only thing that could
help children make that choice is to make it easier to make good choices.
Many people claim that the money we pour into existing outreach centers has shown no
return by the community. The improvement has not been what has been promised to us by the
founders. This may be the case, although predicating the reaction and actions of the community
to a center such as these is a task all in its own. Being able to predict exactly how effective
outreach centers are, and what they will return is almost impossible. The return establishments
like this have to offer will not be seen immediately through revenue gains or economic growth,
but will be a long term gain and be seen in statistics such as high school dropout rates and even
the homicide rates of the city. Many could claim that these numbers are even more important
than the economical aspect. To better out community will take large amounts of money, but will
return a gain that could be considered priceless.
The city of Los Angeles is a thriving community full of people both making bad choices
and good. In order to lower the number of people doing badly, we must improve the way we
raise our youth. Providing them with escapes from dangerous homes and allowing them to make
good decisions, we can break they cycles of violence the city has been trapped in. People like
Johnathan Cook are rare to experience in such a violent city. Although he had the strength to
overcome the traits he was raised with, many are not. These children require extra assistance to

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make good choices, but this is assistance we can provide. The city as a whole would benefit
greatly from community centers and the violence in the city would decrease is we can break the
cycle our youth has been trapped in.

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Work Cited
Smith, Anna Deavere. Twilight--Los Angeles, 1992. New York, NY: Dramatists Play
Service, 2003.
Rodriguez, Luis J. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2005.
Cook, Johnathan. Personal interview. 15 October 2015
"Breaking the Cycle of Violence." Breaking the Cycle of Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
"Crime Rates for Los Angeles, CA." Los Angeles Crime Rates and Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Nov. 2015.

Dear Professor,
This essay, I believe, is one of my best pieces I have written. I feel strongly about the topic we
chose to write about and I found joy in the topics I researched. The interview I conducted had to
direct relation to my essay at the time, as I was simply giving a stranger a ride to school. The
encounter became something I will remember forever and am even able to relate to my essay
very well. Although this week has been very tough for me as I have spent over 18 hours in the
airport, it gave me lots of time to research and write my essay. I did get to enjoy Thanksgiving
with my extended family, and I hope you did as well. I hope you also enjoy my essay.