leaving phone messages for her almost daily with reports about her son’s behavior. Mr. Moore had to confess that he had been erasing the messages. His bullying behavior finally stopped when a teacher talked to him about a boy he was picking on who was going through a rough time. “Once I knew, it melted my heart,” he says. “I learned you never know what someone else is going through.” Mr. Moore is particularly proud of an effort he was part of in 2014 to help stop the sale of BB guns in the city. It began when he and several friends became aware that a store in South Philadelphia was selling the guns. “We were concerned because a BB gun can look like a real gun,” he says. Mr. Moore and other community members worked with the Philadelphia City Council to pass a law banning the sale, use, and possession of BB guns in the city. Just two weeks later, the situation Mr. Moore and his friends had feared might happen in Philadelphia became reality in Cleve- land, Ohio. A police officer shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was holding a BB gun that the officer thought was a deadly weapon. In July 2016, Mr. Moore was invited by the Hillary Clinton campaign to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Giving the speech, which was about peace and unity, “was an awesome experience,” he says. Mr. Moore has some simple advice for kids to help them stay healthy and safe: Listen to your parents and teachers. There are a lot of people in prison “wishing they’d listened to their parents,” he said. “Be respectful to people,” he adds. “Never get caught up in negativity—that can lead you down a road you don’t want to be on.” — By Balin Lopez, Da’Maurion Rodgers- Benson, and Gianna Varona La Salle Academy Healthy News staff 19 Illustration by Stella Menzies, East Norriton Bulldog Bulletin