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Teens to Grownups: "Please Talk With Us!"

The teen and adult panels join for a group photo at the conclusion of the Wake Up Call forum at Godby High School.
Tom Flanigan
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Just days after gunfire took the life of a 20 year old Tallahassee man, young people and grownups met to talk about that and other issues on Saturday, June 8.

The teen and adult panels join for a group photo at the conclusion of the Wake Up Call forum at Godby High School.
Credit Tom Flanigan
/
The Florida Channel
The teen and adult panels join for a group photo at the conclusion of the Wake Up Call forum at Godby High School.

The "Wake Up Call" meeting happened in the Godby High School gym. Around 150 were there to hear the thoughts of a panel made up of 9 area high school students. One of them was Asia Alexander, a Florida High 11th grader. She blamed an old-fashioned communications gap for at least part of the problem.

"Our generations are totally different!" she remarked following the panel discussion. "What they (the adults) used to do, we don't do now. They need to know the new way of how we do things so they can connect with us a little more and know why we're doing the things we're doing."

It was a message that the adults, including State Attorney Jack Campbell, seemed to hear loud and clear.

"We need to do a better job of reaching out so that they can call me and each of us, like their guidance counselors and school resource officers; all the different people represented here today."

The two 15 year olds arrested for last week's Sharer Road shooting are facing adult murder charges. Investigators say it all began with a dispute over 50 cents in change.

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