Students able to ask questions about laws, dangers
ROCKINGHAM — Local criminal justice and law enforcement this week partnered with Richmond Senior High School to teach students about the potential consequences of their decisions and actions with regard to many of the modern challenges teens face today.
The District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Justice, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the Rockingham and Hamlet Police Departments have been conducting twice-daily sessions with groups of about 100 students each day this week, answering questions from students that they may have been afraid to ask in other settings.
“Our purpose in coming here is to make sure that you guys make really good, common-sense decisions,” said Assistant District Attorney Tracey Grimes. “You guys were telling me all the things you what to do when you graduate — doctors, nurse, welding company, military. If you come into the courtroom, that greatly diminishes your capacity, or your ability, to do what you want in life.”
Over the past few months, teachers have been surveying students on what topics they would like to know more about. Those answers were used as the basis of the topics that were covered.
Topics such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking, marijuana, fentanyl, DUI, sexting and bomb threats were discussed in a way that allowed students to express honest questions, and get answers that were backed up by facts straight from the authorities on the law.
“We’re just hoping to educate on some of the things they may be doing wrong and don’t know about,” said ADA Alex Harris. “They’re getting real answers, as opposed to talk from their friends.”
Grimes and Harris, who were both enthusiastic and animated in explaining their jobs and answering questions, both made it clear that when they are prosecuting a case in a courtroom, their friendliness quickly disappears.
For many students, this was the first time they had heard that sending nude photos, smoking marijuana, and making a threat to someone are crimes in the state of North Carolina with serious, long-lasting consequences. Harris and Grimes shared that even if some of these crimes are committed by a juvenile, they can be tried as an adult and face jail time.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Maples said this partnership, which will be coming to middle schools in the next month, emerged from a community gathering in late December that discussed youth violence and prevention strategies. This meeting resulted in community members forming a task force to continue the conversation and come up with solutions.
“With the influx of students in Juvenile Court, we are genuinely concerned about the youth in our community,” wrote Reece Saunders in a statement. “We are looking for ways to reach them and we are whole-heartedly committed to doing whatever it takes to educate them in an effort o prevent them from into the criminal justice system.”
Wiley Mabe, chairman of the Richmond County Board of Education, said these sessions were full of “invaluable information” that students could never have too much of.
“Everything that they’re talking is maybe something they see or deal with every day,” Mabe said.
Sergeant Rucker with the RCSO shared his experience from the drug enforcement side of policing. He said he’s seen many examples of drugs in the community that aren’t what someone says they are, leading to young people unknowingly ingesting much more potent drugs like fentanyl.
“Hopefully, us talking to them will give insight on what may happen if they partake in [criminal activity],” Rucker said, adding that transparency is key in these sorts of conversations.
Ronald Tillman, a school board member and Area Consultant with the NC Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, said that these discussions are a proactive approach to helping kids understand how bad decisions can affect them down the road.
Grimes added that especially for young minority kids, it can be an inspiration for them to see people of color working as professionals in the community.
Neil Parrisher and Nerissa Burnett, both probation officers, shared their experience in working with young people, saying that just because the students in attendance may be young does not mean they won’t face the consequences of their actions.
“They need to be exposed and be aware of the outcomes of some of their decisions,” Burnett said. “They think, ‘It won’t happen to me’ or ‘I’m young, [the presenters at the discussion] can say whatever, whenever [but] there are no consequences.’ We’re trying to get to the root of them.”