The arrest reports are dotted with names of people who made poor choices. Increasingly, many of the perpetrators, as well as the victims, are young people.
It’s an issue that has troubled Columbus native Kanesha Brown McCollum for a while, and eventually, the 1995 New Hope High School graduate decided she had to do something about it. Though she lives in Montgomery, Ala., now, McCollum said she still has friends and family in Columbus, and offering the character workshops is her way of giving back to the community she loves.
McCollum will hold a free character workshop for teenagers at Rosenzweig Arts Center Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme of the workshop will be “Good to Go … Choices Matter.” Topics discussed will include respect and demonstrating good character in text messages, emails and social media interactions. Lunch will be provided, and participants will receive a free T-shirt.
McCollum founded Committed to Character Education, a nonprofit organization, in May, and she held the first character workshop July 30, teaching K-12 students about trustworthiness, fairness, conflict resolution, etiquette and fitness.
Girls were also taught how to sit like a lady, and boys were taught how to tie a necktie.
“All I kept hearing was, ‘Columbus is so bad, so terrible,'” McCollum said. “I know my hometown can be a wonderful place to live and worship. … My passion is to have my hometown be a place to be proud of.”
She said children today are growing up with a “kill or be killed” mentality, when what is needed is a generation of leaders.
It’s something that worries parent Josephine Tate as well. She participated in the first character workshop as a coach and plans to participate again.
“I don’t think there’s anything more important for our young people or our youth,” Tate said. “Regardless of whatever education they might get, if their character is not intact, nothing else is going to benefit them in the long run.”
She said her daughter, Grace Tate, 16, participated in the first workshop, and, as a parent, she’s glad to hear of the second workshop’s focus on social media.
“They’re still posting all types of inappropriate things on the Internet,” Tate said. “I’m constantly saying to my daughter, ‘You need to be careful what you put out there, because that’s going to be a reflection of you.'”
Though Tate tries to monitor the Noxubee High School student’s Facebook activity, she is busy and doesn’t always have time to sift through the hodge-podge of abbreviated “text-speak” the teenagers use. Other family members help her keep tabs on what her daughter is doing online.
“All you have to do is listen to the news and read the newspaper and see the things going on to know our youth need character,” Tate continued. “They need to be hearing it every day so it can stick with them so maybe we won’t be reading about them when they’re 17, 18, 19, 20 years old.”
All youth ages 13-18 are invited to participate in the Oct. 8 workshop. The deadline to register is Sept. 26.
For more information, parents can call McCollum at 334-546-8880, email her at [email protected], or visit her Facebook page: “Committed 2 Character Education.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.