article, a teen struggles against violence in his own community.
A Bad
Situation
Growing up in Oakland,
California, Antonio Bibb knew
about violence. His community has
been plagued by murders, battles
between gangs, and robberies. So
when Antonio heard about an anti-
violence program for high school
students called Teens on Target,
he was intrigued. He was in the
seventh grade at the time, but
promised himself that when he got
to high school, he’d join the group.
Antonio knew lots of kids
who had lost family members to
violence. He felt lucky he hadn’t,
and he wanted to do something
positive . “I felt like there was no
way to stop violence, but I hoped
I might be able to change things
a bit,” Antonio, now 18, says.
He also wanted to show others
that he was on the side of peace.
“Pretty much every adult on my
dad’s side of the family has been in
jail, including my dad,” Antonio says.
“Even when I was young, people were
starting to judge me and categorize
me because of that.”
Positive Start
In his freshman year, Antonio
joined Teens on Target. By tenth
grade, he was doing well in
school and had become a leader
in the program. He got to travel
to Maryland for an anti-violence
conference. “It was more than an
extracurricular activity to me,”
Antonio says. “I really felt like I was
helping to stop younger kids from
making the same mistakes adults
in their families might be making.”
In Other Words
has been plagued by has had many
intrigued very interested
an extracurricular activity to me something
I did outside of school
Key Vocabulary
intruder n., someone who goes
where he or she should not go
violence n., physical action that is
very rough, harmful, and mean
• positive adj., good, helpful, favorable
Violence
Hits Homeby Denise Rinaldo
Connect Across Texts
In “Fear,” Zo faces intruders who are trying to break into his house. In this
magazine article, a teen struggles against violence in his own community.
A Bad
