Tuesday, November 26, 2013
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CAMPBELL
Phil Chalmers waved a crisp $20 bill in the air.
Addressing the Campbell City School District’s eighth- through 12th-graders, who were sitting in the fieldhouse stands directly in front of him Monday morning, Chalmers asked what, exactly, he was holding and how much it was worth.
The answers were predictable: a $20 bill, worth $20.
Chalmers then crumpled the bill into a tiny ball.
He dropped it onto the shiny basketball court. He stomped on it. He mimed spitting on it.
He asked what it was worth now.
The response was the same: $20.
“This bill has been through some drama, but it’s still worth $20,” said Chalmers, an expert on teen violence and bullying. “Some of you have been kicked, spit on. You think you don’t have value, but you never lose your value.”
During the hourlong presentation, part of his “True Lies” tour, Chalmers shot down dozens of other “lies” regarding self-worth, bullying, crime prevention, suicide and substance abuse, among other issues. He also spoke to the district’s fifth- through seventh-graders Monday afternoon, then to the public that evening.
Chalmers, who grew up in an “unstable” home in Cleveland and has been studying juvenile violence for more than 25 years, began Monday morning by promising those in attendance that his would not be “another boring assembly.” Instead, it would feature a look at “real stuff.”
Only minutes into the presentation, explaining that drugs and alcohol do not make life “more exciting,” Chalmers projected onto a screen photos depicting a man’s physical deterioration as he progressed from marijuana use to cocaine use to crack-cocaine use — and then, shortly afterward, to death.
He did the same with a woman’s descent into drug abuse.
“This is the face of drug use. Don’t forget these faces,” Chalmers said. “Abusing drugs will kill you, but a lot of us have believed the lies of our culture. I want to drive this message so deep into your heart that you’ll never recover.”
For some students, he said, this assembly could be a last warning. Some will be dead before they reach 21. Others will be in prison.
He shared the story of Reggie Stephey, an 18-year-old high-school student who forever changed his life — and the lives of five others, two of whom he killed — when he drove drunk.
He told of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, who was abducted from a car wash and killed an hour later, her body dumped behind a church “like she was a piece of trash.”
He showed two photos side-by-side — the one on the left a headshot of a fully tattooed man, the one on the right of a boy — and asked the audience which of the two appeared to be more dangerous. In reality, he said, the man on the left had killed one person, while the boy on the right, a young Adam Lanza, had killed 20 elementary-school students and six faculty and staff at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School last year.
“Killers don’t look like killers; they look like everyone else,” Chalmers said, adding that virtually all school shooters were victims of bullying. “If you want this to happen at Campbell, you keep letting bullying go on, and keep your mouth shut.”
Chalmers emphasized that no one deserves to be “singled out and picked on,” and concluded his presentation with an anti-bullying music video, “Tonight,” which is available on YouTube. He also mentioned his website, www.philchalmers.com, which features resources including a workbook that explores warning signs of teen violence.
Fotini Koullias, Maria Meris and Deena Diamandis — all in eighth grade — agreed that Chalmers’ presentation was inspiring. The three said they planned to return for his evening performance.
“He spoke to a lot of kids,” Fotini said. “I’m sure a lot of kids get bullied, so a lot could relate.”
Freshmen Terrence Beckwith and Robert Young, along with sophomore Bruce Black, briefly stopped to talk with Chalmers, who stuck around the field house after his presentation. All were pleasantly surprised by the assembly, which was both entertaining and serious at the same time.
“It hit a nerve,” said Terrence, explaining that he was drawn to the assembly’s rawness and honesty.
Matthew Bowen, superintendent of Campbell City Schools, said those students who attended Chalmers’ presentation appeared to be listening to — and connecting with — his message. He added that inviting Chalmers to speak was a way of being proactive, of making sure that the district’s students feel safe in school. “Bullying and exposure to violence exists in social media, in video games, in many of the homes,” Bowen said. “The more we educate and build awareness within our community, the more we will avoid tragic occurrences from happening here in our district.”