That's why Sunday neighbors and leaders met at Southeast Raleigh High School for the "Say Yes" summit.
Radio One along with a number of local organizations, the Wake County Public School System and a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, want potential gang members to say yes in four key areas that they say could keep them on the clean road.
"Children saying yes to staying in school and graduating on time and saying yes to sexual abstinence, saying yes to no gang involvement and saying yes to no drug involvement," said Marvin Connelly with the Wake County Public School System.
Leaders with "Say Yes" say the gang involved fight at Triangle Town Center recently is a key example why all faith-community and schools have to come together and intervene before it's too late.
"What we do is we try to pull those entities together and make them come together as a unit in order to function in a way that will benefit our children in long term," said Anthony Higgs with Another Step Forward Ministries.
"When a child sits on a stool, one leg is the community, one leg is the school system and one leg is the home and all three of those legs must be stable in order for children to be stable," Connelly said.
