Houston County NAACP Youth Council hosts town hall meeting 

WARNER ROBINS– Voting involvement, social media addiction, bullying and gun violence were topics of discussion at an April 7 Town Hall meeting.

The meeting was held at the Warner Robins Christian Methodist Episcopal Church gym and hosted by the Houston County NAACP Youth Council. 

Many panelists were at the town hall, including Houston County NAACP Youth President Trinity Williams, Black Voters Matter Field Director Fenika Miller, Dr. Tonya Simmons Lee, Minister Willie Raines and Houston County Board of Elections Supervisor Debra Presswood. 

Williams started with her remarks on how this town hall meeting came to be. Youth Council Advisor Dr. Rutha Jackson came to Williams about the idea of starting this event after an adolescent was fatally shot near Galleria Mall.

“We really just wanted to come together because the youth that are in the community often don’t have a voice,” Williams said. “We wanted to offer a safe space where the youth can get together and know that they’re valued and know that they have a voice.”

Williams has faced some challenges as the council’s first president. 

“The biggest challenge I’ve had is engagement and getting other youth to participate,” she said. “A lot of youth want to participate, but it often gets lost in translation, so I just feel like me and my counterparts often have trouble with support.” 

Williams then advised the many youth in attendance who might be interested in joining the council. 

“You can accomplish anything you want, no matter what anyone says,” she said. “Go out into the world and be someone of change and be someone of power because you matter.”

One of the main focuses of the town hall centered around social media addictions in youth, led by Dr. Tonya Simmons Lee. Lee is a certified mental health representative and a board-certified counselor. 

“What I will say about social media is that it has become a form of communication not only for our youth, but for grown folks as well,” Lee said. 

Lee said social media also has positive aspects, such as connecting with others and learning about this specific town hall meeting. 

“[Social media] is also a way to get and learn information,” she said. 

However, Lee mainly focused on negative effects of social media and how it drives the percentage of the youth who are living with undiagnosed anxiety and depression. 

Lee has spent over 20 years in the school system and attributes some of this anxiety and depression to parenting. 

“Some of this is parenting needing to be parented,” she said. “Some of this is teaching your parents how to have a language, to talk to children. Because if you’re my age, we were parented very differently, and we cannot use that same parenting with the children today.” 

Lee said that parents must consistently talk to their children and give them the space to talk back to the parents while also correcting that experience for them. 

“Otherwise, they are going to become depressed,” she said. “The percentage has raised over 100% of black males dying by suicide in the last 17 years and the percentage has also increased in black girls as well.” 

Lee also said this is a conversation we have to have involving children’s mental health because the value of life is not what it used to be. 

Lee was then asked how to address the encouragement of getting counseling since it is perceived negatively in the Black community. 

“We have to start building this historical mindset with these generational misunderstandings,” she said. “When you hear a child say ‘what happens in my house stays in my house’, you just cripple that child’s ability to get help.” 

In addition, Lee refers to counseling as ‘talking,’ which is much more friendly to those seeking help. 

“I take the word counseling out and then let them put in what they need because a lot of them do not need therapeutic counseling,” she said. “Counseling is described as something that has happened to you that we have to repair or learn how to deal with what happened to you; it doesn’t mean something is wrong with you and that is part of the misunderstandings.”

Lee was also asked how to deal with a child who does not want to tell their parents something that needs to be discussed. 

“There are certain areas and spaces where that child is in direct harm and it is something that is connected to that parent then you are ok, in this specific case, to tell you pastor,” she said. 

Also, in the meeting, minister Willie Raines shared his thoughts on bullying. Raines has a mission called Combat Bullying and has traveled nationwide for the last 26 years, speaking on this ongoing issue.

“Bullying has become a big issue in school and we know it gets verbal, physical and also involves cyberbullying,” Raines said. 

According to Raines, there has been a lot more cyberbullying now than verbal and physical bullying we see in schools. Raines stated that Houston County has great counseling for the kids, but the kids have to go and talk to them.

“When it comes to bullying, our kids are dealing with trauma that is happening in their home,” he said. “They are acting out because of that trauma and are maximizing that pain.”

Raines then discussed how parents sometimes do the same things at home.

“I hate to hear their parents call their child stupid,” he said. “There is no stupid child, there are just children that have been misguided.”

Raines said the kids being bullied are acting out in rage or becoming depressed and suicidal. 

“I encourage young people to be careful with the words that you say because words are very powerful,” he said. “Words do hurt, and so we have to be careful to make sure to use positive words because you don’t know if that person might be on edge.” 

Raines encourages parents to give their kids more words of affirmation and encouragement.  

“Words of affirmation will just make them feel good about themselves even though they may not have done their best,” he said.  

After Raines’ message, a citizen spoke about her experience being the bully. She said that she was being the bully because she was going through something at home and was taking it out on the weakest link. She was trying to be heard but was not being heard. 

“Bullying has been around a long time and is not something new,” she said. “We already know what the problem is, we need to deal with this issue from both sides.”

The meeting then turned to the topic of gun violence as the parents of TraQuavias Holloway shared their story. Holloway, 14, was killed by a stray bullet while going to the movies with friends. 

“These kids have to realize, a gun is a powerful weapon,” Holloway’s mother Shanetta Jones said. “Your hands are a powerful weapon and are a root to all evil if there is something in your hand that will hurt that other person.” 

Jones said that TraQuavias was a good, playful and community child. 

“Bullying is a factor in this matter, even though my baby was an innocent bystander,” she said. 

Raines also gave his thoughts on gun violence. 

“Parents, if you are a gun owner, lock your gun up,” he said. “If your gun goes missing, please report it.” 

The meeting was also turned over to Black Voters Matter Field Director Fenika Miller. This organization’s primary focus is voting rights. 

“We have been doing work across this country, primarily in the Deep South looking at youth engagement, life political representation and building power around the issues that impact our community,” Miller said. 

Miller’s job is to build power around issues such as voting rights, health equity, environmental and housing justice and criminal justice reform. 

“I am grateful to be here and listen in this safe space and listen to the community,” she said. 

The final speaker of the meeting was the Houston County Board of Elections Supervisor Debra Presswood, who talked about the importance of youth registering to vote. According to Presswood, every high school and college university is mandated by the state of Georgia to have a registrar in that school system. Presswood says the youth can register to vote at 17 and a half if they are 18 by election day. 

“It has become easier for a person to register to vote because you can actually do it on your phone,” she said. “Every registered voter in Houston County has a voter page which gives you all the information you need for the upcoming elections.” 

After the meeting concluded, Dr. Rutha Jackson gave her thoughts on it. 

“This was quite an experience of joy, excitement, and interest,” she said. “It seemed that those that came today had an interest in what we do and what’s going on with our youth.”