(CANTON, Ohio) – STEAMM Middle School student Zabree Virola wants to stop youth violence, and she has a solution she thinks can help.
In modern society violence is a natural thing and is the most common solution to every problem. Just because its the most common solution doesn’t mean its the right one. Violence can cause very things to happen like death or serious life long injuries. As a society we need to reduce youth violence that includes gun violence. Meaning we educate people on how to resolve conflict in other ways.
Zebree was one of 18 students from the Canton City School District honored this afternoon by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as a finalist in the “Do the Write Thing” challenge, a national program that asks middle-schoolers to discuss how violence impacts them and to share their ideas about reducing violence in their community.
“Everybody who reads what you wrote, including the Attorney General of Ohio, is getting a better picture of the world and a more complete idea of how it could be,” Yost said at the awards luncheon. “Now go ahead and change the world for the better!”
Yost’s office launched the program in Ohio in 2021, with Springfield City Schools. Since then, “Do the Write Thing” has expanded to four more school districts: Canton, Lima, Youngstown and Zanesville.
This is Canton’s second year participating in the program, which encourages students to put in their own words – maybe for the first time – a personal and sometimes-painful experience. In that sense, the experience is meant to be cathartic, a tool to help them move on.
The Canton program received more than 500 submissions from seventh- and eighth-grade students from Early College Middle School, Crenshaw Middle School and the STEAMM Academy at Hartford Middle School. The award ceremony was held today at All-City Grille in Canton.
Community members and business leaders volunteered to judge the submissions. The top 18 stories will be published as a booklet and shared across the state to bring greater attention to the problem of violence.
Tyler Alfas and Zebree Virola will join six students from the other participating districts as Ohio’s ambassadors to the “Do the Write Thing” national conference in July in Washington, D.C.
Canton City Schools Superintendent Jeff Talbert said today he is proud of his district's participation and the voice it is adding to the conversation on violence in the community.
"Our young students are already making an impact by expressing themselves and sharing their passion and courage through their essays," he said. "It is beneficial for adults to hear their thoughts and experiences and ask how we can learn from them. I look forward to this continued partnership with the Ohio Attorney General's Office.”
“Do the Write Thing,” organized by the National Campaign to Stop Youth Violence, was founded in 1994. The program has reached millions of students nationwide.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Hannah Hundley: 614-906-9113
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