A summit hosted by Teach to Reach Teens was set to begin Monday evening when the organization’s founder noticed nine teens or young adults hanging out outside on the W.L. Harris Park playground in Fredericksburg’s Mayfield neighborhood.
Robyn Wilson attempted to cajole the teens into joining the group inside the community center, where a wide range of topics related to their age group was set to be discussed.
A few sauntered in, grabbed a few slices of pizza and then immediately departed back to their comfort zone.
“Next time, we’re going to have this outside,” Wilson said to the summit’s participants.
Adults, senior citizens and teenagers from the Fredericksburg area participated in the conversation just six days after a mass shooting related to an illegal gun sale in the Olde Greenwich neighborhood in Spotsylvania County left three teenagers dead and three others wounded.
Four youths were arrested, leaving the region shaken and community leaders attempting to figure out ways to prevent future issues of youth violence.
“I’m 75 years old and really don’t have a full understanding of what young people are experiencing today,” said the Rev. Hashmel Turner, a former Fredericksburg City Councilman. “But when we bring them to the table and give them an opportunity to have a voice to share concerns on what they think we can do to fix it, I think we’ll be headed in the right direction.”
The teenagers who spoke at the summit said that pressures from social media and a disconnection with spirituality are two of the reasons they see their peers struggling with behavioral issues.
“I think a lot of adults don’t really understand how big of an influence social media has on how kids act, how kids think they’re supposed to act,” said Massaponax High School junior Elijah Wilson, who was schoolmates with one of the teens allegedly involved in the shooting. “It kind of makes kids turn into something that they’re not or that they didn’t grow up to be.”
Turner opined that parents veering away from the faith community has led many young people astray, and students from Courtland and Chancellor high schools agreed. They said bullying and anti-social behavior is commonplace in their schools.
When asked what they would say if they had a microphone and the entire region could hear them, Kennedy, a student at Courtland, said she would “spread more awareness about God.”
“A lot of people don’t have Him in their hearts, and I feel like that is the main cause for people to turn nasty and it’s normalized,” she said.
Added Phillip, a student at Chancellor: “[Callousness is] normalized and they’ll say anything to anybody with no second thoughts.”
Panelist Regina Price, a trauma coach with Mental Health America Fredericksburg Region, said there are underlying reasons for those behaviors that must be addressed. Price said it is also important to listen to youth without judging.
“The bullying, the self-harm, the violence, the anger, those are just symptoms of the root cause,” Price said. “And the root cause is abuse, neglect, household dysfunction. You’ve got all of that, that they’re dealing with, and they don’t know how to deal with it, so they’re taking on all of this.”
Larry Catlett, a 44-year-old Fredericksburg native, said it is important that troubled youths have a variety of options as mentors in the area. Catlett was incarcerated and served as a mentor in federal and state prison.
“We don’t have enough people in my position that step up to give back to the ones that are doing what just happened,” said Catlett, referring to the shooting. “I take this seriously because this is my community. We can’t sit back like, ‘Somebody, somebody.’ I’ve got to do it.”
Catlett said when he was young, concerned adults showed interest in him and others in the community. He noted that one city resident, Buster Nelson, took children to NBA games in Washington and Minor League Baseball contests in Richmond.
Sgt. Joseph Porter with the Fredericksburg Sheriff’s Office, a 36-year-old who grew up in the city, said somewhere along the line, there was a disconnect: no other people or organizations stepped up to fill the void in the community, until recently. He said as a result of that — and the COVID-19 pandemic causing a setback in learning and the development of social skills — some area youth were left with no guidance.
“I remember when I was growing up, we had so many different community events, so many things to keep teens occupied,” Porter said. “It not only kept us occupied, it connected us to the resources that we needed, kept us involved in sports, kept us involved in so many different things, and I think that’s lacking … and a lot of kids are just left to their own devices.”
Porter applauded the Teach to Reach Teens organization for attempting to provide that outlet for youth. The group meets every second and fourth Monday in Mayfield. It also meets every first and third Friday at Walker-Grant Middle School to serve its students.
Fredericksburg City Public Schools Superintendent Marci Catlett, Fredericksburg Vice Mayor Chuck Frye Jr. and Eunice Haigler, a liaison for Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) were all in attendance Monday and addressed the summit’s participants.
Frye highlighted his gun giveback program in partnership with Fredericksburg law enforcement that has helped remove 220 unwanted weapons from homes, no questions asked. Haigler said the community needs to become tight-knit like it used to be when neighbors depended on one another.
Marci Catlett spoke about FCPS’ initiatives to combat teen violence, including the Mothers Opposed to Violence, who walked the hallways at James Monroe High School last school year, the development of a process for students to address their concerns and the re-establishment of the James Farmer Scholars program for students in grades 3-8.
“When we need to pull together to save our children, we step up,” Marci Catlett said … “My point is this [event] matters. This gives me hope.”
