Twelve students of George Washington Carver High School, with the help of their Engineering teacher, Justin Sanders at George Washington Carver High School have received a $10,000 grant.
This grant was awarded to the group for their stellar job in building an app that has provided a platform for their fellow students to connect with the goal of preventing gun violence.
For the duration of a competition hosted by Altec Industries, the group of 12 worked on the development of an app called NeXsim. A mock-up of the app was showcased at the competition and consequently chosen as a recipient of the grant.
An App Built For Change
NeXsim pairs students with various groups they can create and engage with based on activities they are interested in. The development of the app was inspired by acts of gun violence that saw four of the school’s students killed over the past two years.
The app outlines a schedule of the school’s events for students to keep up with and a media hub to share pictures and videos of these events or school life in general.
This app was created to encourage students to get more involved in school activities, reducing the chances of participation in illegal activity.
“We noticed that African American males get in violent crimes and stuff of that sort because they don’t have anything to do..” Ariyan Riggs, a senior at the high school, said.
A Problem That Needs Fixing
According to the Inquirer, as at December 2022, gun violence in Philly remained at record levels for a third straight year.
Philadelphia recorded 512 homicides in 2022 according to the police, and nearly 1,800 people were shot although they survived their wounds.
Reasons for these homicides and homicide attempts include arguments delving from drug-related feuds, gang conflicts, taunting social media posts, retaliation, domestic violence, and even sometimes, sadly, mistaken identity.
These are the statistics that are hoped to be reduced gradually with the help of initiatives such as this app.
The app is slated for an official launch via the Apple App Store by the end of the Spring semester of 2023.
