The privilege of living on the safe side

 

I have been very privileged to grow up in a secure area. However, some of my neighbouring communities are not as lucky. Unfortunately, just over the field bordering my community, there is a lot of gang violence. We can hear the gunshots from our neighbourhood. When I was growing up, I was very much shielded to this violence and my family and community protected not only me, but all the kids.

Our community is very much protected from the violence that occurs next door to us. I believe that to be privileged means to be directly unaffected and protected against something. Therefore, I believe that my community and I are very privileged to have this safety net of protection.

However, we shouldn’t take it for granted. As crime increased and gang wars escalated, we should always be aware and not allow this safety net to blind us from the reality and our surroundings.

Growing up protected and with a sense of security is great but it can also lead to you being naïve or having a lack of skills on how to deal with certain situations. There are pros and cons to everything. One of the cons to growing up in a safe community, is that you may not know what to say or do if you enter a different community with less protection and security. You may not know what to look out for or how to protect yourself if need be.

For example, when I was growing up, I would hear the gunshots from the neighbouring communities and think that they were fireworks. I would go outside, excited, wanting to see them. If I were in an unsafe community, that could have been very dangerous.

As you can see, there are always advantages and disadvantages to living in certain communities. We learn as we go along.