As images flashed across the screen, teenagers in the Columbus Middle School auditorium fell silent.
In one picture, William Stallings relaxed at home. In the video that followed, friends and family discussed his death. The 19-year-old was found shot in the head on May 20.
The message from community leaders at the second annual Stop the Violence Youth Summit was clear: Be part of the solution or risk becoming a statistic.
“The tragedy of it all is that person”s not coming back,” Columbus Police Chief Joseph St. John told students at the conclusion of the video. “He had his whole life in front of him.”
Students participating in the Lace Up, Summer Success and Crossroads programs attended the summit, which was sponsored and hosted by WCBI”s Siobhan Riley and Urban Radio Broadcasting”s Aubra Turner.
Ty Harris, of Shiloh Baptist Church, brought the discussion close to home, telling teens he knows the lure of drugs, gangs and promiscuous relationships, because at one time he tried it all. When he decided that life wasn”t for him though, he found it hard to disentangle himself.
“When I got in the midst of it, I became bound,” Harris said. “I didn”t want to do it anymore, but I couldn”t go back. I didn”t want to be like that. Some of you are going to go out and not make it back.”
Harris encouraged students to make the right choices, listen to parents and teachers and resist peer pressure. He encouraged parents to pray for their children and teach them “the right things.”
R.J. Matthews, of KingdomVision International, said it was equally important for teenagers to learn how to express emotions in a healthy way. St. John echoed the sentiment, adding that feelings of disenfranchisement are also a problem, because once a person feels they don”t fit into society, they also determine that society”s rules don”t apply to them.
“Once you enter this world where the rules don”t apply to you, it”s a dangerous, scary place to live,” St. John said.
The panelists also addressed domestic violence, absentee fathers and the importance of positive role models.
“Somebody has to care,” Matthews said. “The program without the passion doesn”t produce fruit.”
In response to a question about youth violence stemming from Facebook exchanges, he encouraged the students to take a 45-day challenge to spread only positive messages through social media.
“Stop fighting through Facebook,” Matthews said. “If you”re mad at somebody, go in your room and pray.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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