911!!! Help! Save our Youth!! The following is a letter that I sent to many of our city, county, schools, and others leaders on yesterday. Please parents lets do our part and make sure our children are safe. Contact your leaders and let them know we demand a safe environment for our children. Hello Dear Leaders of our Great City, County, and County Schools; My name is Charlie Caswell and I am a concerned citizen, parent, and community activist. I have addressed many of you in the past about the great need of putting something in place for our youth in this city. Many of you sadly have ignored that request. Maybe my request to address the need for more resources to be spent on providing our children with some safe recreation after school or even some funds for some job opportunities may not be warranted from your position downtown. Yet as a community activist one who work with teens on a daily basis. I assure you help is needed and it is needed NOW! I am truly concerned with our communities and our leaders who seems to be reactive instead of proactive about the concerns of our youth, our community and our city. Well this matter to get something done for our youth has gotten even personal to me. I had to spend a couple days in prayer before writing you all this email. On Thursday of last week January 23rd while serving students at Trezevant High I was pulled to the side by the administration begging for help for their students safety. They begin to tell me that on Wednesday, January 22nd of last week they were faced with a gang related incident. They informed me that some students got to fighting in the school and a young lady called some people to the school and they had three car loads of gentlemen with guns to come to their school. Thankfully the school police and MPD was able to catch them. While I was there police was scramming throughout the school because as I was told another young lady life was in danger. Well while I was leaving that meeting to go meet with some community leaders on this issue and steps we can take to help get the community more aware and involved at our schools. I received a call from my daughter school at Craigmont High that some girls have jumped on her best friend and attempted to jump her in the hallway. One of the young ladies stroke my daughter in her face. When I got there the police was dragging a group of girls to the office that were the attackers and my daughter was in the police office. I then saw the young lady who is my daughter friend walking with a swollen face with a huge bag of ice. I was then taken to the police office where my daughter was and the officers and other witness told me what happen and how these girls came from behind and tried to jump my daughter. I am sorry but I am very angry about the very toxic environment our schools are in. The students who many of them have nothing to do are joining gangs and now one young lady is seriously injured and four others have been kicked out of school for 180 days. Sadly no one wins in this matter. My daughter was not seriously hurt but I am very upset that she and others good students have to face such toxic environment to try and get an education and we wonder why our children are dropping out of school. I know I have been working with some of you trying to put something in place to deal with juveniles who get charge with cases like this to place them in a diversion program and yes I believe that is still truly needed. I believe that we cannot continue to push this problem down the stream. I assure you that it is only getting worst and I am afraid that we will sadly be getting the call of one of our children being killed in these schools. Please leaders lets stop turning a blind eye to the great need for investments for after school programs, jobs, and the need for diversion program and in many cases parent training for these parents who can not control their children. If you are seeking a ROI for this investment look at what we are spending in this city for police, emergency rooms, jails, and lost of lives. We can save taxpayers a much greater cost by investing on the front in and build some productive youth that will turnout to be taxpayers and great mentors to the next generation. Let me say that I know that this is not just government problem but as taxpayers we the citizens deserve better for our children and communities. I am available to meet with anyone that want to work on a plan that will allow us to make a collective impact. Please lets work together for the safety of our children. Best Regards, Charlie Caswell Executive Director Rangeline Community Development Corporation Community Development Corporation Phone: 901-859-6832
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 06:07:27 +0000
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