The January shooting death of a local teen is spurring his father to take his loss and use it to help others. And now his mission has the support of area schools.

19 year-old Robert Ridge was shot to death while driving near Murdock and Lorraine on January 5th. Just hours after his son died, Riccardo Harris vowed to make sure Ridge's death was not in vain. Now, he's making good on his promise by planning to take his message of tough love and respect to the classroom.

Shortly after Ridge was killed, Harris, a teacher and coach at Southeast High School, was approached to come up with a program aimed at students. The focus would be to show how devastating violence is.

While it's in the early planning stages, Harris says it's time that kids come face to face with the reality of violence in the streets. He also says kids need to understand that life isn't always easy, but you have a choice to make every day what you do with the time you have.

"A lot of the young people are experiencing hopelessness, and when they're experiencing hopelessness, anything goes," says Harris.

Harris hopes to kick start the program in April. He says part of it will involve a video documenting his son's life, death and interviews with family members.