LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — "The adults in our community, they expect us to make something of ourselves and be great in life and they're out here not doing what they need to do to make sure we're okay," said Kai Williams, a Cobb Middle School student.
Kai Williams is only in the sixth grade and she has already found a passion for leading others. She joined students from across the county Monday to speak up at the Wake Up Call event in the Capitol courtyard.
The event was put together by community groups in Tallahassee to give teenagers a chance to talk about the issues they face. They covered topics ranging from gun violence to bullying.
"It was a lot going on in the community and at my school," said Alexis Scott, the student president at Rickards High School. "A lot of the students had talked to me about things going on and I wanted to be a voice for them and I wanted to be able to help my community as well as my peers."
Students used the event to call on city leaders to take action against the problems they see in their communities every day.
"When they started speaking about the schools and the mental health and all the problems going on in Tallahassee -- that's a major problem," said Karolyne Nova, another Rickards High School student. "They stated a lot of good information and I felt like I needed to state more on mental health because I know that's a big problem in this generation."
On a day dedicated to making our voices heard, these students did not miss their opportunity to help bring about positive change.
"I would really like to see some changes in our community. South side, north side -- everywhere in Tallahassee," said Williams. "Because there are some things that really need to be fixed. I don't think we are doing all that we can to fix our community."
