To the editor:

I agree with Charles Gates and the NAACP, along with the Youth Council, regarding the intervention into our youth’s lives.

What a tragic set of events has continued to plague the lives of our young men and women lives, as most of us stand aside and look! It seems to me that as Mr. Gates stated in his column, we need to stop doing so much talking about this situation. We need the actions of all our concerned citizens to combat this problem.

I speak as the vice president of PREVENT Youth Outreach Ministries, located in the Saratoga section of the city of Suffolk. PREVENT has and will continue to be an outspoken voice and an advocate for the education, socialization, and economical well-being of our youth, simply because they are people too!!

These youths need a lot of guidance in this world that is full of unsavory distractions, and it is of the utmost importance that we stop ignoring the societal problems our youths are being exposed to.

We own this problem just as much as our youths do, but we who are supposed to have a wealth of experience in real-life circumstances, and claim to have the answers, continue in our closed mind policies by accepting the status quo.

When are we going to stop sleeping at the switch? These youth were like you and I who have become law-abiding, taxpaying, socially moral agents. We did not get here by ourselves, did we? We had a lot of help.

So, yes, talk is very cheap unless it is backed by the committed actions of those who are doing the talking. We need to remember that we are investing into the future of our homes, communities, cities and nation when we make the decision to take the drastic steps that are needed to save our future hope, our children.

Can we take the time to get passionate about the youths we say we love and care so deeply about?

There is an elephant in the room, but collectively we can swallow him, if we take aggressive bites out of him.

Gregory Prince

Suffolk