During recent grade level town hall meetings, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Anton Bell shared personal experiences to encourage BHS teens to make better decisions. “Some of you are too immature to understand that living your life the way you do will eventually catch up to you,” Bell said. 

Although he talked about different topics in each grade level town hall meeting, the discussions shared a common theme, such as the importance of one’s teenage years and how high school shapes a student’s future.  For example, he shared the tragic story of a student-athlete who hoped to become a quarterback in college. Unfortunately, he went to a party without his parents’ permission and was shot in his hand. As a result, of his injury, he lost all of his scholarships and was no longer able to play the sport he loved.  According to Bell, the teen did not have respect for authority. “If you don’t respect the authority in your home, you won’t respect it anywhere else.”

In another tragic tale, Bell recounted the story of a 16-year-old male, who got into an argument over a bike part. As a result of his anger, the young man committed murder and was arrested.  Bell stressed that if you are over the age of 14 and commit a serious crime, you will be tried and charged as an adult, without the possibility of parole.

Unlike the other grade levels, Bell spoke with the senior class about how men should value women. More importantly, he explained that women should realize when men only want them for their own personal gain and value themselves even more. 

Overall, the class meetings were very inspirational, and students were able to learn some valuable life lessons. He encouraged all 9-12th graders to work hard and achieve higher expectations of themselves. “You can control your choices but you can not control the consequences,” Bell said.