Twenty-five young men are spending their spring break listening to guest speakers talk about the various paths one can take in life and the consequences of heading down the wrong ones.
The weeklong training, called Real Talk, is being run by the Pine Bluff Police Department and was put together in part as a response to the shooting death of 15-year-old Siar Grigsby that occurred in February in the Dollarway area. A 19-year-old and a 14-year-old were arrested in connection with the shooting.
"That drove it home," said officer Helen Irby, one of the three police personnel who planned and are putting on the program.
From 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, the teens and tweens, ages 12-16, sit at round tables set up in a large room at Bethany Chapel Missionary Baptist Church on Olive Street and listen to speakers and then ask questions and talk about what they've heard.
Thomas McCastle, a member of Ambassadors for Christ Youth Ministry, discussed anger management and pursuing healthy relationships.
"Covid isolated young people so much," he said after his session ended. "And now their social skills are falling short, and when that happens it turns into anger."
McCastle said several of the boys asked about how to establish better relationships with their parents. He said his advice was to put some effort into building those bonds.
"I like to use the piggy bank analogy," he said. "If you're putting in pennies, you can't take out hundred dollar bills."
Deputy Chief Shirley Warrior, another organizer, said the young men were identified by school resource officers and counselors, not because they are at risk, but because they are at an age where they are making what can be life-altering decisions.
The guest speakers talk about real-world situations and outcomes. One speaker who was scheduled for later in the day on Tuesday is a funeral home director who was set to talk about "the aftermath of violence." And on Thursday, one speaker coming from Little Rock was in prison for almost four decades because he was in a gang that required members to kill someone, according to Warrior.
"Everything is real," she said, as another organizer, Lt. Hosea Thompson, prepared an area where lunch was about to be served. "There's even a 'circle of love' which demonstrates that when a young person is disciplined, that just means someone in their life cares about them and loves them."
Warrior said the focus of the sessions is to give the boys the ability to say no to gangs and gun violence, staying out late – she said one young man said he went to sleep at 5 a.m. the night before – and picking the wrong friends.
"They need to have respect for life and for themselves," Warrior said, "and it starts at home."
The boys seemed to be getting the message.
"It's been fun so far," said Branden Brown, a 16-year-old White Hall student. "They're teaching us life skills and helping us become men and take our role in the community."
"I think it's a good learning experience," said Adam Price, a 13-year-old who attends Jack Robey Junior High School. "We're young men growing up and they're looking out for us and teaching us. They're bringing in all these guests, and they're treating us like one of their own."
Another speaker, Mike Harris, was about to be introduced, but before he did, Warrior told the youngsters that to respect a speaker, they have to be silent and definitely couldn't rustle plastic wrappers as they nibbled on snacks. Suddenly the room was very quiet.
Harris, formerly of Pine Bluff but now a professor at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, told the boys they were tomorrow's leaders, and he impressed on them the importance of respecting their parents, teachers and principals.
"They want what's best for you because if they didn't, they wouldn't be there," Harris said. "You are the agents of change in the community. That's what you are, whether you believe it or not."
Harris also talked about making good choices in life.
"That's what life is about -- making decisions," he said. "Good or bad, you have to live with them at the end of the day."
Irby said the target audience for the program was boys, mainly because of the risk of losing the young men to gangs.
"Girls just don't have that risk, not nearly as much as the boys," she said.