HARTFORD — Curtailing gun violence, and violence in general, is an endeavor that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy says he is working on in while in the nation's capital. The "youth ambassadors" from the Brother Carl Hardrick Institute have been working to do the same while in Connecticut's capital, and on Friday the two got together to talk about the issue.

Murphy sat down with the ambassadors for a roundtable discussion at the Wilson-Gray YMCA Youth & Family Center to discuss what changes need to made for the betterment of Connecticut students and to aid in the reduction of violence.

"I've learned the best way to know what I'm supposed to work on in Washington is to listen to the kids and students that are growing up in the neighborhoods. Nothing matters more to me than your success," Murphy said Friday. "It's really the young people who have the most important voices as far as I'm concerned."

The local institute is named after Carl Hardrick, a Hartford resident who has been an advocate for ending violence since the 1990's. Officials from the group that bears his name say he has been trying reduce violence through community outreach, trainings, and programs such as a youth ambassadors mentoring program, and an art therapy program.

"Brother Carl has been doing this work for over 40 years. He's helped create this idea of reducing violence through those relationships within the schools, police, hospitals," said Leonard Epps, president of the Brother Carl Hardrick Institute. "Brother Carl was the model, the prototype of what we want individuals to be like."

The ambassadors, ranging in age from 6th-graders to college seniors, told Murphy that they need to see more role models in their communities, and noted that guns seem to be very accessible to young people these days.

A college student ambassador advocated for more background checks being done for firearm purchases.

There was also discussion of how mental health plays a role in violence, and how mental health services should be made more available. 

"The same way we have a physical health course, we need a mental one too," one ambassador said.

The ambassadors also mentioned how a person's home life and upbringing can also be a catalyst for choosing violence.

"A lot of us are reaping what our parents sowed," an ambassador said.

Murphy serves on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), so a portion of Friday's discussion centered around ways to improve the school systems.

Hartford Public High senior, Christina Jackson, 17, said all the school systems in the state are not the same.

"The standards are different compared to other towns like West Hartford and Wethersfield," Jackson said. "In our schools, teachers say all you need is a 60 to pass. That's all you need. Just pass."

An East Hartford High School student echoed Jackson's sentiments.

"It lets the kids fail in front of your eyes instead of pushing them to do better," the student said. 

Jackson also said that there isn't enough funding available to have after-school programs, and she's sees it as "a vicious cycle."

Often, Jackson says, because students don't have the transportation to get to the programs, they don't participate in them, and then they never happen because "they're not going to waste money on the programs."

"I'm hearing you loud and clear," Murphy said to the ambassadors. "We can change your experience, we can change your future. There's no limits to what you can do."

The ambassadors also were able to talk with State Sen. Doug McCrory (D-Windsor).

"Violence is relatively uniform throughout," McCrory said. 

"Unfortunately when we talk about violence, it's about killing or robbing, but I look at violence in another way," McCrory said. "I think it's violent when young people do not have enough money to go to school. I think it's violent when you don't have healthcare."