HOUSTON—Community leaders in a neighborhood rocked by a recent murder and a brutal brawl posted to the internet, are hoping computers might stem the flow of violence there.
“Kids love technology, so with computers they can roam the internet instead of roaming the streets,” said Johnny Molock, whose company “Bridging the Digital Divide” has donated dozens of computers to apartment complexes throughout the city.
Molock’s latest project is at the Kings Row Apartments in the 4100 block of Barberry Street. Monday, he announced the opening of a brand new computer lab in the apartment complex’s community room, one of three safe haven computer labs his company has opened in recent weeks.
Molock was joined by a number of ministers and other activists, who were taking part in a nationwide protest against violence called a “Day of Outrage.”
“I think it’s important for young people to know this is not a game, “said Reverend James Nash, of Houston Ministers Against Crime. “The young people need to be as outraged as we are.”
Last week, a Worthing High School football star was gunned down and murdered by a carjacker in Sunnyside. Earlier this month, an angry mob attacked a woman and her daughter and posted the video to the internet.
“This is not the Sunnyside that we intend to tolerate,” said local activist Sandra Hines.
The new computer lab will be staffed by adults during after school hours. Some young people are already taking advantage of it.
“This is a safe place to hang out and a lot more entertaining than being on the streets,” said JaMarkus Page, a 17-year-old resident who plans to do his homework at the lab to stay out of trouble. “We don’t have a computer at home, so if I can’t do it at school I can come here and do it now.”
