Pine Bluff students make pledge against gun violence

Pine Bluff, Arkansas – During the National Day of Concern for Young People and Gun Violence on Wednesday, hundreds of students at Pine Bluff schools participated in a pledge and spoke with community members about the effects of gun violence.

This event is a component of the Words Not Weapons Initiative. The message, according to Jesse Turner of the city’s Community Affiliate Network, needed to be spread because young people had been implicated in previous killings in recent years.

Many of them knew the deceased children, who ranged in age from 16 to 18, and we have children as young as 13—that’s too young, too soon, Turner said.

During talks about the toll gun violence takes on families, two women who lost their kids in shootings also shared their stories. These events took place at many Pine Bluff schools.

Rovetta Haltiwanger remarked, “Hopefully we get through to them and they understand that one minute of bad choices ends with a lifetime of pain.”

Slyvia Bennett-Stone, director of Voices of Black Mothers United, expressed her hope that the students who are taking the pledge will see it as “a symbol of hope” because she too lost a child to gun murder.

Bennett-Stone stated, “I think the more we do, the more it helps us heal.”

They all express the hope that having this discussion will result in a more widespread demand for change.

Turner stated, “So if they can discover that there are people who care about them, that’s what we need.”

Turner stated that they had conversations with more than 600 students from different schools throughout the city, and he hopes that this is just the beginning of a journey toward a brighter future.

Bennett-Stone remarked, “We told them to talk to someone about it if they know of anyone with a gun because it might be the very thing that saves your life.”