Mentoring program teaches kids to prevent violence, here’s how

LANSING, Mich. (InvestigateTV) - Doctors say that during adolescence the emotional center of your brain, the frontal cortex, matures earlier than the part responsible for impulse control and judgement.

Experts warn when that development gap meets easy access to firearms, the risk of tragedy increases.

A Michigan nonprofit has launched a new mentoring program designed to help teenagers make better choices and avoid the consequences of risky decisions.

The Mikey 23 Foundation introduced its Envision program, which pairs youth with mentors from various fields including judges, former athletes, business owners and tradespeople.

The program aims to provide teens with positive role models and career guidance.

Former lifer shares cautionary tale

Derrel Braxton, who spent 37 years in prison for a deadly robbery at age 18, helped kick off the program by sharing his story with teens.

“In the process of a robbery, I shot and killed two people and it was the worst thing that I ever did in my life,” Braxton said. “And we left the scene, and shortly after I was arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced to life without parole in the state of Michigan.”

Braxton was released from prison last January following a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court decision that ruled life without parole for 18-year-olds violates the state’s ban on cruel or unusual punishment.

The court cited studies showing the brain continues to develop into a person’s 20s.

“I was the typical 18-year-old, thought that I knew everything and that I had life figured out, and how wrong I was,” Braxton said.

Foundation honors son killed by gun violence

Michael McKissic started the Mikey 23 Foundation 10 years ago to honor his son Mikey, who was killed by gun violence in August 2015.

McKissic has made it his mission to get kids off the streets and on the right track through construction skills training and mentoring.

Dozens of kids, parents and siblings packed the Ingham County Probation Office to hear presentations from both formerly incarcerated individuals and career professionals.

“So people that are formerly incarcerated, and then we’ve got career professionals here as well,” McKissic said. “They’re going to tell both sides of the story because the kids need to see that. Once they hear both sides of the story, you know, you’ve got to get the kids to think.”

Evidence supports mentoring approach

McKissic said the new approach differs from older “Scared Straight” programs from the 1970s.

“Scared Straight back in the 70s, they were trying to scare the kids. You know, it just doesn’t work,” McKissic said. “But when you give kids that option and give them choices and see like, wow, I think I want to do that. I don’t want to go over there and end up incarcerated. I want to do this.”

According to Youth.gov, teens with mentors are more likely to graduate high school, have better self-esteem, and are less likely to use drugs and alcohol.

Program participant sees need for change

Eighteen-year-old Symphany Horn signed up for Envision after witnessing the impact of gun violence on her brother, who lost a friend several years ago.

“It was hard seeing him go through that process, especially as a young teen,” Horn said. “He was navigating the grieving process, understanding what exactly happened to somebody so close and it was almost like a reality check. Like, wow, this is a problem that Lansing needs to address.”

Horn said the program presentations were empowering and inspiring.

“It helps just bring a better light to your life as a person and helps you internally decide what are you going to do and it helps you as a person develop and grow and kind of make those mental decisions and mental notes to make better decisions,” she said.

The one-on-one mentoring relationships begin at the Mikey 23 Foundation workshop in Lansing. Braxton said these relationships can steer teens away from violence.

“I couldn’t envision, right, the impact that it would have on my victim’s family, on my family, on the community, right?” Braxton said. “And I think it’s our job as adults, our job as those who are tasked with the responsibility of getting these young people to see how deep this can be, how tragic and how devastating their actions can be.”

McKissic developed the Envision program in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Corrections. The program is free for any Lansing area teen, and organizers say there is always a need for more mentors.

“If I could just reach one kid with my story, then I would be happy with that,” Braxton said. “I want to use my voice, my experience, to make a change.”

When asked what his son might think of the program, McKissic said, “Oh, my son. You know, I do this all for him. I really do this all for him to keep his legacy alive. I know that he is saying, ‘Go, dad, go.’ I miss him. I miss him.”