ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Preventing gun violence continues to be an uphill battle in Rochester. Police have investigated 19 homicides this year, following a record number of murders in 2021. At one Rochester elementary school — in a neighborhood where several murders have happened in recent years — the lessons being taught are about saving young lives.

There are certain things kids should worry about: grades, recess, lunch, learning. There are others which no kid should have to live with.

“How many of you have lost someone to gun violence?” asked Michael Johnson to a group of children assembled in the cafeteria of Flower City School 54 on Otis Street.  

“Look at that,” he said as a large number of students raised their hands.

Johnson is a social activist with Save Rochester, a group which helped organize a peace march and rally Thursday.

“Every single one of you deserve to go to school and play on the playground, and not hear shots fired down the street,” said Johnson.

The signs the School 54 students made touched on subject of peace, ending gun violence and Black Lives Matter. They helped send the message of the day.

“We are with you,” said Moses Robinson, a longtime member of the Rochester Police Department.  “We support you and we protect kids.”

It is a message community activists hope will stick with the children throughout their lives.

“We are the only school in the city of Rochester that has decided to take to the streets and reclaim our streets,” said Johnson.

There is a good reason why they chose to march in the neighborhood surrounding the school. Many reasons, actually. There have been several murders in the area in recent years.  

Students heard from relatives of some of those lost to violence. It’s a sobering message, delivered just three blocks from School 54 — at the spot where high school student Bryson Simpson was shot to death a month ago.

“I went to Bryson’s funeral,” said Ja’net Scott, who lost her own brother to gun violence. “The family had to lay that baby in the ground. We don't want to bury any more babies. We’ve got to stop the violence.”

As the School 54 peace rally was taking place, about two miles away a man was shot as Rochester police say multiple shots were fired on Jefferson Avenue. A house was also hit by the gunfire. The victim is expected to survive. According to Rochester police data, more than 75 people have been shot in the city this year.

To make a difference, it takes a community — to stop the things no kid should have to worry about.

“When you go home today, I hope you tell your parents about what you did today,” said Johnson.