NPR: Teaching Inner-City Kids About Death

Teaching Inner-City Kids About Death

Tell Me More has an interview with Todd Walker, a football coach in Oakland, Calif., who has started a program, Restoring Inner-City Peace, or R.I.P., that brings urban kids to funeral homes to help them understand the reality of death. Walker shows the kids -- some as young as 6 -- a casket, a gurney and a cremation box, items that can help make the often fatal consequences of violence more real.

I applaud Walker's efforts, especially in an area where violence can be an everyday event. But I'm not sure if the sterile surroundings of a funeral home are enough to make a difference. In my experience, it's only the death of a close friend or a relative that pushes you to consider your own mortality. Otherwise, I fear the effect is only temporary.

I can still remember the first time I saw a dead person. The mother of my parish priest. I was about 7 years old, and our Cub Scout master had taken the entire troupe to the funeral home to pay our respects. I remember kneeling beside the open coffin, but it seemed more gross than scary.

5:03 PM ET | 07-31-2007 | permalink

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It sometimes feels that that the urban youth of inner cities seem to glorify death, in the manner of senseless gang violence at times. Introducing them to the aspects of death, and how it affects not only whole families, but whole communities, may in fact help curb such senseless gang violence.

Sent by Jason Manley | 9:37 PM ET | 07-31-2007

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