Bonus Content 2

Afterword 

Helping Tony Jackson Become an Author

• Mr. Tony Jackson was locked up when he wrote the initial early draft of this book. When he was released on parole in 2019, Texas officials ordered him to leave the state and never return.

• He was grateful that he had a safe and wholesome place to go: Fort Worth, Texas, where his devoted mother and other family members lived.

• I met him unexpectedly during a business trip to Fort Worth in February 2023. Within hours after we met, he placed his manuscript in my hands. He asked me to edit and publish it and get the book into the hands of thousands of teenagers—especially children in trouble or at high risk of being drawn into illegal activities.

• It has been a unique challenge helping Jackson manifest his vision. He bears the emotional scars of a human being who’s been trapped in a dangerous environment for most of his life. As a newly freed individual, he told me that he was jobless and faced a financial crisis that prevented him from living on his own. He frantically searched for a job while his book was being produced.

• He complained that a lot of people had tried to exploit him and profit from his life story after he was released from prison. He stated that dishonest individuals promised to get his story produced into a Hollywood movie, but those scoundrels swindled him out of thousands of dollars that he had saved. These tragic letdowns left him despondent, angry and distrustful.

• Using the advance funds he received from my publishing company, SCI Worldwide LLC, Jackson made a downpayment on a car so that he could travel throughout the wide-ranging Fort Worth-Dallas, Texas area to interview for potential jobs.

• When he wasn’t looking for a job, Jackson spent his time constructively. He built a strong social media following. He’s become an important influencer who motivates young people to steer clear of crime and improve their lives each day. He speaks to them as “one who knows,” and he is soaring in his new-found purpose, bringing light into the lives of many. He often tells his social media followers how excited he is to be “alive and free”—despite the challenges he faces.

• And he’s earning income as an independent social media entrepreneur and public speaker. Still, his struggles to secure a good job have caused him to repeatedly feel the sting of rejection. Needless to say, his criminal background has severely damaged his prospects, because very few companies are willing to hire an “ex-con,” especially one convicted of a violent crime.

• Jackson’s fate as an “undesirable ex-con” is an important warning for young people. His fate illustrates the painful consequences that will befall those who don’t heed the lessons he’s taught them in this book. His struggles show that crime truly is “just dumb.”

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• Edward D. Sargent, Publisher

■       Edward D. Sargent

 Publisher's Note 2

* To give the young reader quick access to Tony’s story, only portion of the Publisher’s Note was only previewed at the beginning of this book. The Note in its entirety is provided below:

• Once upon a time, most American youngsters who got into serious trouble went looking for it.

• Nowadays, gun violence, illicit drugs, and other types of trouble easily find them, no matter who they are or where they live. Never have there been as many opportunities and temptations for children to do dumb, risky, and deadly things as there are today. Increasingly, children and adolescents encounter dangerous activities in school hallways and playgrounds; shopping malls and cars; at parties; and while casually socializing. On social media, violence, gore, and aggression find children nonstop 24x7, pulling them deep into madness.

• This is why when I hear people call today’s youth, “The Lost Generation,” I reply, “Well, who lost them?”

• Our children didn’t lose themselves. We’ve raised them in communities overrun by danger, yet we dismissively declare that they are lost. No, our communities are lost. We adults have lost millions of today’s youth.

• This section of the book brings you the news that people who care about the children—folk like yourself—can not only read, but use it to ignite a blazing fire in your gut to get up and do something—anything that might make a positive difference. The children are our future. We must protect them and lead them away from trouble and help them soar! 

 THE NEWS INDICATES THAT WE MUST DO BETTER TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN

• Seven children are shot and killed every day in the United States of America, according to gunfire data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and analyzed by multiple institutions, including the Pew Research Center and Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund®. Seven children (persons under the age of 19) killed each day amounts to 2,590 child deaths each year.

  
  

• This means that for the first time in American history, gun violence is “the leading cause of death” among all children and adolescents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which in 2023 released a report on the scourge. The report, published in Pediatrics, the organization’s official journal, was titled, “Trends and Disparities in Firearm Deaths Among Children.” It revealed that:

  Among all children who died by gunfire:

●       82.6% were young adults aged 15 to 19 years old.

●       50% were white and other non-Black races.

●       50% were Black.

●       84.8% were male.

Also:

●       There was a 41.6% increase in the firearm death rate among children from 2018 to 2021.

●       About 78% of firearm suicides were committed by White young people, while 67.3% of firearm homicides were committed by Black young people—indicating that White young people tend to kill themselves, and Black young people tend to kill one another.

• White Americans of all ages carry out 53 percent of all mass shootings. Black Americans account for less than a fourth of mass shootings.

• As more children commit violence, more of them are being arrested and put into cages (aka jails and prisons). For instance, a public school district with a student population of 15,700, reported that police arrested 21 percent more youngsters in 2022 compared to the previous school year. In total, police made 435 arrests, which is more than two arrests per school day on average. The arrests involved a wide range of incidents, including:

●       Fights requiring medical attention,

●       Violent threats (verbal/cyber/social media),

●       Aggressive mental health episodes, and

●       Lethal weapons possession.

• Every day, all year long, our society conditions young people to believe  that violence is something to be expected—that it’s simply a normal part of life. Violence is glorified through vulgar music and videos and gory electronic games.

• If America is to save her children, she must give them strong and loving doses of realism and rational thinking—the type of realism and rational thinking that Tony Jackson has delivered in this book.

▪                     Edward D. Sargent, Publisher

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