‘How many more?’ Sammy D Foundation demands action on youth violence prevention

The Sammy D Foundation says South Australia cannot keep waiting for another young person to be seriously injured or killed before youth violence prevention is treated with the urgency it deserves.

The warning follows reports of a brawl involving young people at Henley Square yesterday, on the same day the family of 18-year-old Beau Brownbill spoke publicly about the permanent brain injury he suffered after being punched earlier this year.
Sammy D Foundation CEO Jannine Jackson said the timing was difficult to comprehend.

“Yesterday, we heard parents talk about how one punch changed their son’s life forever. Hours later, we were watching young people running towards another fight,” Ms Jackson said.

“We know how quickly these situations can change. In a matter of seconds, another parent could be getting the phone call that changes their life.”

“That is not being dramatic. We know because it has happened before.”

The Sammy D Foundation was established after 17-year-old Sam Davis was killed in a one-punch assault in 2008.

Sam’s father and Foundation founder Neil Davis has spent the past 18 years sharing his son’s story with young people in the hope another family will never have to experience the same loss.

“Three weeks ago, Sam should have turned 36. Instead, we celebrated another birthday without him,” Mr Davis said.

“You don’t move on from losing your child. Eighteen years later, there are still birthdays he isn’t here for, milestones he never reached and a place in our family that will always be empty.”

“When I hear Beau’s parents speak, my heart breaks for them. Our hearts break knowing they now understand how a few seconds of violence can change everything that comes after.”

“Then you see another fight involving young people and you think, what is it going to take? How many children have to be hurt, how many young lives have to be changed forever, and how many families have to suffer before we decide prevention is worth the investment?”

For 18 years, the Sammy D Foundation has delivered evidence-based violence prevention education, reaching more than 300,000 young people in schools, sporting clubs and communities.

Ms Jackson said the Foundation knows prevention works, but without greater investment it cannot reach enough young people.

“As a mum whose own child was coward punched, and as CEO of the Sammy D Foundation, the most frustrating part is knowing we can help prevent this, but without the funding, we simply cannot reach enough young people,” Ms Jackson said.

“As we head into summer and end-of-school celebrations get closer, young people should be able to go out, have fun and come home safely.”

“We can give them the skills to recognise when things are getting out of hand, to walk away and to look out for their mates. We just need the investment to reach them before one decision changes everything.”

The Sammy D Foundation is calling on government to make long-term investment in youth violence prevention a priority and ensure proven programs can reach young people before violence occurs.

“Schools right across the country are asking us to deliver these programs, but too often we have to say no. They can’t afford to fund them, and right now, neither can we,” Ms Jackson said.

“We receive no government funding to deliver this education. That means young people are missing out on prevention programs at a time when we are being reminded, again and again, just how devastating the consequences of violence can be.”

“We cannot continue pouring resources into responding to violence once the damage has been done while prevention fights for funding.”

“We should not have to wait until another young person is lying in a hospital bed, or another parent is planning a funeral, for prevention to become important.”

“We can end youth violence. But saying we want it to end is not enough. We have to invest in preventing it, not just respond when it happens.”