MACON, Ga. — Using social media as a platform to discuss youth violence is one of the ideas behind the “Stop the Killing, Macon” Facebook page.
Through our collaboration with Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism, Amyre Makupson shows us what administrators hope to get out of this meeting of the minds.
“Everyone has gotten tired of it. Everybody is now seeing just serious and how grave this situation is," said Facebook group admin, Nathaniel Jordan.
Jordan's Facebook group currently has over 2,600 members.
“These members are from high school students all the way to business owners," he said.
They've all joined the group with one goal in mind.
“When you have dialogue, you might be able to reach a solution," he said.
“Growing up here, you want to see better for your city and you want to see better for the youth of the city,” said group member, Derek James.
James and business partner Carl Myers have a startup business -- Gifted Geniuses -- which also focuses on Central Georgia’s youth.
They engage with other people on the page to get more ideas on how to curb the violence.
“That group is a platform to talk to other people and to find resolutions and solutions to what can we do to take some of this violence away," said James.
Because in the end…
“These young people are looking for love," said Jordan. "There are a lot of kids out here who want better and are trying to do better and get better. They just need a little help."
He says that help can be found online through the group.
"[It's] a network of people that are willing to come together and teach them because if you don’t teach a child how to love, they're not gonna love away from the house," said Jordan.
He says the group already has set up some young people with mentors, but they’re hoping as the group grows, more people will volunteer their time and resources to help reach more of our youth.
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