ATLANTA — The morning after a shootout near her Atlanta home, resident Gwen Smith said she was sad to hear about yet another incident involving gun violence among teenagers.
"These children are shooting guns at each other and that's the saddest thing," she said. "I feel so sad."
A 14-year-old and 16-year-old boy died in a shootout between two groups at The Retreat at Greenbriar Apartments Saturday. The incident stemmed from an argument on social media, according to Atlanta Police.
RELATED: 14 and 16-year-old killed, 3 kids hurt in shootout in Atlanta's Greenbriar neighborhood, APD says
Smith told 11Alive she was disappointed to hear about the shooting and hoped people in the community would take a more active role in helping children become better at conflict resolution.
"I think the schools should have more things for the children to do, like we did when we were kids," she said. "That school was open on the weekends. We went play basketball and stuff like that. But, you know, we need to get that back some of it anyway to relieve stress."
Saturday's shooting is the latest in a growing list of incidents where someone under the age of 18 has been hurt because of an incident involving a firearm.
Community activist Bruce Griggs has spent years trying to address gun violence through his organization Operation Correct Start, Inc. He said now is the time for people to try new tactics to address this concern.
"We've got to start attacking this as a public health issue," he explained. "We cannot and we can no longer think that we can play basketball and get rid of the disease of ours. We can no longer think that we can have a chess tournament."
Griggs said these programs are important, but he believes it will be more effective for children to have intervention early -- before they are susceptible to influences that cause bad behavior.
Griggs also explained the holidays present challenges for many children who don't have the structure school provides during this time of year.
"A lot of people look at the holidays as a joyful time, a time of giving happiness. But a lot of these kids that I deal with, this is not that cool to not have to go to school, because for some of these young people, school is the only safe haven they have. School is the only place they get a well-balanced meal -- it's that important for them."
In addition to Griggs, Smith said that more community intervention will be needed in order to prevent tragic gun violence among young people.
"We don't need the war in the community, and plus, especially our children," Smith said.
Eventually, Griggs wants to see people make a more effective investment in solutions to prevent crime completely.