Since I was a little girl my community has been unsafe thanks to criminals. All I have ever wanted is to end the corruption and for the criminals to end up in jail. Every day we wake up to hear something new about the criminals. That is not a good thing. Everyone is in danger.

We have big criminals in my community. They are known to be criminals but they never get arrested. When I go out, I don’t feel welcome or safe – I am scared that something might happen to me when I am outside my home.

Last week my mother was robbed by the criminals in the morning when she was going to work. They took her bag and ran away. Our community leader said that there has to be someone patrolling day and night. But others don’t agree – they say the criminals must be killed so that they can learn a lesson.

The youth – my peers – are copying what the criminals are doing. But they say it’s not the same thing as gangsterism. Our police do not do their job. I think that everyone must patrol so that the community can be safer. Our government must create jobs for the youth so that people won’t turn to crime.

The police must do their job so that our community is safe. The government must provide a better life for people.

Last week one of my friends was robbed of her phone on the way to the shop when her parents sent her to buy bread. We all know the criminals but we don’t report them to the police because they have made us believe that the police are working together with them, and so they will not arrest them.

Our community leader says that we must beat them first, before we report them to the police. But other people don’t agree with him. They say we must report them so that they can suffer and rot in jail.

We don’t walk freely in our community because we are scared of these criminals. Our brothers and sisters are raped by these criminals, and the police don’t even care.

Everyone has a right to protection and safety. As youth, we must stand together so that we don’t end up like these people in our communities. Something must be done so that the criminals can learn a lesson, and stop doing harmful things in the community.

The government must create jobs so that would-be criminals have something to do. There must be projects for the youth so that they don’t copy the bad things that happen in our communities and that they can be better people. Most of these criminals dropped out of school so that they can make a living. But this is not a reason to turn to crime. We must all feel safe in our communities.