FORREST COUNTY, Miss. ( WHLT ) – The Forrest County NAACP called on the community and its leaders to help stop youth-involved crime.

Officials with the organization said they’re seeing more violent acts being committed by teens in their area, spanning from robberies to murder. They believe many youth lack the proper education and skills to avoid trouble.

The NAACP worries that many teens have become quick to act out of emotion and do not think about the consequences of crimes they’re committing. They’re asking other organizations, churches and city leaders to build relationships with the youth and get to the root of the problem.

“Organizations can get together and not only just hold events once a year, but we need to do this more often than once a year by having a stop the gun violence, campaigning. We need to get in our schools and talk with the teachers and the leaders there to see what we can do in the curriculum to, you know, teach our teachers how to even respond to mental health issues that they may be portraying there,” said Dr. Mary Hossley, Second Vice President of the Forrest County NAACP.

The Forrest County NAACP plans to visit schools to help educate teachers about how to handle concerning behaviors in students and how to help.

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