Milwaukee mock funerals show kids impact of violence

MILWAUKEE - Some Milwaukee kids took part in an eye-opening outing Wednesday, July 12 -- mock funerals aimed at getting them to think about the impact of violence.

It was part of a Marquette University summer program.

The program teaches middle school and high school kids conflict de-escalation skills and peer mediation.

The organizer said they wanted to show the kids the impact violence has on survivors, empowering them to do things differently.

"We need to affect the change – not just the negative narrative," said Steven Robinson. "We want to change and empower young people to do something about it, to be change agents, to be ambassadors. We hope that we inspire them to be peer mediators, to be individuals that affect the change in their communities, with their peers and with this world."

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Every year, Marquette and their partners help around 1,000 young people.