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'I wish my sister had heard that message' | Buffalo Soldiers educate Freedom School students on gun safety

Four roses were on display during Tuesday's presentation to represent the four children who have been killed in Toledo from gun violence.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Local children learned about the importance of gun safety Tuesday with help from an area group.

Freedom School in Toledo invited the police department and the Buffalo Soldiers to talk to the kids about what to do if they come across a gun.

This isn't the first time the Buffalo Soldiers have talked to students about guns; Fred LeFebvre recalled the last time, when it really struck a nerve with a child.

"And one little boy came up to us after in tears and said, 'I wish my sister had heard that message.' Because it was his sister who had been shot in that drive-by earlier in the year," he explained. "So, that makes us even more anxious to get out there to as many schools as we can."

Freedom School officials say students have spent the week learning about gun safety and the dangers that can come with guns. 

"The buses that we have on the wall portrays that the youth that have been killed due to gun violence in the United States could fill 15 buses," project director Lavada Griswold-Smith said.

Four roses were on display to represent the four children who have been killed in Toledo from gun violence so far this year.

LeFebvre said it's key to get this message out to kids while they're still young. 

"We don't feel that we can really reach the teenagers and 20-something-year-olds and everything that are out on the street already," he said. "So, you gotta get to the kids early and explain to them just how dangerous it is and what they should do when they find one."

What should they do? 

LeFebvre said, "stop, don't touch, run away and tell an adult."

Griswold-Smith explained their curriculum at Freedom School goes beyond what they read in textbooks.

"With Freedom School, not only are we doing gun violence and homelessness," Griswold-Smith said, "we've talked about voter registration, we've talked about a lot of different other things that are socially, that they wouldn't know a lot about."

"You can see on their faces, you can see in their body language and by the quietness that goes through the room that it's made an impact," LeFebvre said.

Just last week, we told you about a 12-year-old boy walking across Toledo with his grandpa's gun because he felt he needed it for protection.

RELATED: 'Nothing changes if nothing changes' | Toledo youth advocate calls for accountability after taking gun out of 12-year-old's hands

The Buffalo Soldiers say adults need to step up and take accountability so the kids in the city know wrong from right.

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