The mass gatherings in Chicago on the last warm weekend, largely in my legislative district at a South Side beach and in Millennium Park, are reminiscent of something that has occurred in this city for more than a decade. I remember being in law school in 2010 and the collective angst that many of my nonnative classmates felt about the Red Line stop at State Street and Chicago Avenue because of the droves of young people who hung out there.

While these events are not new, the way we approach them has to be because it is obvious that whatever we have done for the last decade has not worked.

Being a young person downtown or on the lake is not a crime, and we cannot treat it like it is. Chicagoans are interested in solutions, but it should first be said that when we talk about making sure that young people have things to do in their neighborhoods, it’s not because we want to keep them out of downtown. If you show me a downtown with no young people, I will show you a city that is dying. Young people on the South and West sides should have things to do in their neighborhoods because all kids and teenagers should be able to have fun close to home, no matter their ZIP code.

Furthermore, Chicago has a disturbing history of shutting young people out of public spaces, from removing basketball rims and backboards from parks, to downtown curfews, to the failure to protect young lifeguards from sexual abuse and the subsequent closure of Park District swimming pools during a sweltering Chicago summer.

Our young people should have things to do in their neighborhoods and still have the option of being downtown. As a teenager, I had things to do in my community, and I did them, but I still wanted to go downtown from time to time because what Chicagoan wouldn’t? It’s beautiful. My greatest childhood memories of Chicago summers include sliding down the Picasso in grammar school and walking through Navy Pier with friends as a high schooler.

These young people belong to someone, they sleep in someone’s home and they sit in someone’s classroom and very often in someone’s church on Sundays. Our question to them needs to be: What do they need?

Many of us know the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This is true in one reality, but through the looking glass is another reality: It takes a village to raze a child. The mass weekend gatherings we’ve seen are no one person’s fault; the fault and the responsibility are ours all. Every Chicagoan has a role in the collective success or demise of our communities and the success or failure of our young people.

We have to return to some form of community cohesion, which has dwindled over generations. I often say when my parents were growing up, if there was a house on fire on their block, neighbors would call the Fire Department and say, “Our block is on fire.” When I was growing up, if there were a house on fire on my block, neighbors would reach out and say, “Your house is on fire.” Now in many cases, if there is a house on fire on the block, many of us take a video or picture of it and say, “Their house is on fire,” and continue with our day.

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Over the last week, I’ve joined with many of my colleagues and community leaders who are interested in facilitating conversations with young people around Chicago in hopes of hearing from them about what needs to change.

I’ve had conversations about culturally competent community response teams helping keep our city safe during warm summer weekends; faith-based groups and nonprofits working with parents of young people; and Chicago Public Schools, the CTA and community organizations coordinating with each other. Talks have also focused on creating community ambassadors; funding groups like the youth-led GoodKids MadCity to organize peaceful block parties for our young people, which the group has done successfully for years; funding concerts at Northerly Island and sports tournaments in our most iconic parks; and providing safe and engaging spaces in neighborhoods and downtown for our young people. For example, discounting roller rinks, movies, restaurants and other activities that allow young people to enjoy themselves in a positive way.

If we can open ourselves up to NASCAR, we can open ourselves up to our young people.

We must all embrace our roles in the collective success or demise of our communities and of our young people. This also includes a role for the Chicago Police Department. We can’t police our way out of this, but let’s be real: A 14-, 16- and 17-year-old were shot during the mass gatherings two weeks ago. It’s tragic and unacceptable, and CPD must work together with communities to be part of the collective solution.

The vast majority of youths at these gatherings are not violent. They may be loud and disruptive, but that’s not a crime. And for those who are violent, we need accountability and new solutions. Chicago created the American juvenile justice system more than 120 years ago, and it’s clearly not working. Reinventing it also needs to be on us.

I choose to believe that we still have the ability to fix what’s wrong here, but we have to come together to do it.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, a Chicago Democrat, represents the 26th District.

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