JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly two dozen youth pastors met with the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools on Friday to discuss what can be done about the number of area teens carrying guns.
The meeting came on the heels of a music video shot in Jacksonville that was aired by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office last week to a group of community members. Several pastors saw the video, and now they're on a mission to come up with a plan to help stop this behavior in and out of schools.
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The pastors said they were outraged at so many teens smiling, flashing gang signs and laughing while holding guns in the video. They were also concerned after a recent News4Jax investigation revealed 32 guns were found on or near school property in the last two years.
"Where it hits home -- this is my city, I grew up here -- it's the kids that look like me," said Pastor Sam Coleman of The Potter's House. "A lot of the news is about kids that look like me. And I believe that this is something I'm passionate about with the African American males. And even on the videos and things -- I know some of those kids."
The pastors who met Friday said responsibility needs to be taken by parents, as well as the schools, to change that trend. They said parents need to know if their kids have guns and where their kids are during the day and night.
"I think the problem lies in homes. It could be much better," said Pastor Anthony O'Neal of Bethel Baptist. "There's no way I could have a gun at home and my mom never knew about it. She would catch it before I got upstairs to my room. But schools could do better and churches and the community can do much better, and that's what we're going to do."
The pastors said since Dr. Nikolai Vitti is the lead educator of the county and is in charge of thousands of students, they felt he was the right person to approach to help feed a positive "No guns/No violence" message to students in the school system.
They said the superintendent's backing will give them more support to deliver that positive message into schools.
Vitti said the meeting is not necessarily about connecting more students to religion and church but about connecting them with mentors and positive peer groups locally.
"Organizations and individuals like youth pastors are doing right by building relationships with kids," Vitti said. "I think that's what we're seeing in a lot of our students -- that they're not engaging with adults. They don't have a mentor. They don't have someone to talk to. They're running with the wrong groups and the wrong crowd. If we can connect them to a positive role model, someone who is involved with other youth and wrap them in and connect them to a peer group that's more positive, then certainly we can make a difference in the lives of individual kids or groups of kids. But on the parent level, we just have to continue to demand more and offer the resources to help them better advocate for their child a play a greater role in their child's education."
Vitti said one resource already in place for parents is call Parent Academy, where parents can take classes on how to advocate for their student's education, review a report card, learn graduation requirements and see tips on how to be a better parent in the home.
The pastors and the superintendent agree that more communication is needed. They plan to meet again next week to create an action plan.
They will also have a meeting with deans from all Duval County Public Schools on Nov. 20 to come up with more solutions. They hope more than 200 pastors will attend and form relationships with the deans so they can share strategies to better engage parents and students.
"We really want all pastors, senior and youth, to be at this meeting where all the deans and assistant principals will be there," O'Neal said. "They'll tell us what they need -- more presence, more mentors -- and then it'll be the churches' responsibility to commit to what they need."