It’s been a little over 4 years since Josh Smith’s 16- year old, half-brother Channing Smith tragically took his life in Manchester, Tennessee September 23, 2019, the day after sexually explicit text messages he’d exchanged with a male classmate were posted on Snapchat and Instagram.
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Despite Smith’s tireless advocacy that criminal charges be brought against the two classmates who outed the Coffee County Central High School junior prior to his death, and the widespread local and national media exposure it generated all of it ultimately proved unsuccessful because of provisions, at that time in Tennessee law, precluding prosecution.
Channing’s story gained enormous attention after Josh Smith posted a poignant note about his half-brother’s suicide on Facebook. A Facebook page to memorialize Channing, that now has more than 6,400 followers, initially, after his death, featured photos of students supporting his bereaved family and calling for an end to cyberbullying. After that country music star Billy Ray Cyrus learned about the tragedy, connected with Josh Smith and attended a memorial service for Channing. Cyrus sang “Amazing Grace” as he played Channing’s guitar.
The famed singer later contacted the White House and was invited there with Josh Smith to discuss what happened to Channing with First Lady Melania Trump who championed the “Be Best” initiative that focused on the well-being of youth, including advocating against cyberbullying. Melania Trump tweeted a message (see above) in support of the Smith family. After that, she invited Josh Smith as her special guest to President Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union Address.
Now, nearly 4 four years later, Josh Smith, who won first place in a recent MIC Story Speaker Competition in Canada hosted by Jesse Cruz. Cruz works for the Wayne County Youth Advocate Program (YAP) and is the program coordinator for My Brother’s Keeper that serves minority youth at NMS, Newark High School and Kelley School. He was so impressed with Smith’s keynote speech about Channing that he advocated for and received permission to have him speak at Newark Middle School from Sandra Ordan, who is the Director of Innovation and Grant Services for the Newark Central School District.
And judging from the urgency and passion by which Josh Smith retold the horrific story of Channing’s desperate ending of his life to Newark Middle School students Oct. 26th and his vehement warning about the perils of bullying, cyberbullying on social media in particular it’s clear that more than anything he doesn’t want what happened to Channing to be forgotten or happen to anyone else.
But not just because of the serious, if not deadly consequences of cyberbullying on social media which Josh Smith asserts are potentially even as dangerous as misuse of a gun.
An article in the September 2023 edition of The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law states: “the unprecedented exposure of today's youth to the Internet and technology carries many benefits but also risks such as cyberbullying and online predation. The incidences of both cyberbullying and adolescent suicide are rising in the United States, with recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing that 14.9 percent of adolescents have been cyberbullied and 13.6 percent of adolescents have made a serious suicide attempt. Cyberbullying has been associated with suicide of a victim in several recent cases, a phenomenon that has been newly termed cyberbullicide.
“Parents and youth are frequently unaware of the risks and potential criminal liability associated with cyberbullying. Legislation that protects against online bullying has developed from antibullying laws, and as an expansion of the requirement that schools prohibit any bullying at school or via technology that interferes with learning. Cyberbullying laws exist in certain states, but as there are no federal laws that address bullying or cyberbullying, cyberbullying is prosecuted federally via statutes governing cyberstalking.”
Married with two children, Smith, 42, a two-time World Champion Martial artist who owns 4 Martial Arts Studios in and around the Nashville, Tenn. area where he lives, believes no problem any individual is faced with is hopeless.
A child of a dysfunctional home, Josh and Channing’s father has been married 12 times. Josh was born during his dad’s third marriage and Channing was the product of his father’s sixth marriage. Having been arrested numerous times on drug-related charges, Josh Smith was sentenced to four years in an Alabama penitentiary on drug trafficking charges when he was 28 at which time he could have given into hopelessness.
But he explained after the assembly that two days after he entered prison, he received a strong, divine prompting to “get clean and sober.” He did. Smith, who regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, says he’s been “clean and sober” for almost 14 years.
He’s been giving back by being a frequent speaker about the perils of drug and alcohol addiction at parole and prison-related events and rehab centers for several years. He recently accepted an offer to teach a class in a Tennessee prison to encourage inmates about becoming entrepreneurs, like he did, after they are discharged.
Smith has only spoken in schools about Channing a few times, most recently at NMS. There he encouraged students who may have been or are being bullied to seek help from someone they trust and take seriously cries for help from others. He regrets not having done more to try to assist Channing when he called him two weeks before his death and asked for help to move out of their father’s home.
Josh Smith told NMS students to always practice kindness. To try to develop confidence because bullies target people they perceive are weak. He told students to maintain good physical hygiene and fitness, again a deterrent to bullies, and refuse to be victims. He encouraged students to get their education and most importantly to love themselves and their individualism. And lastly, borrowing from the theme of his message, for them to “Be The Hero Of Your Story.”
Judging from students’ upbeat reactions when Smith received resounding applause at the end of the assembly and students thronged him afterward, he said he’s likely to pursue speaking in more schools.
“I want to impact kids in a positive way,’’ he said after the assembly.
He also wrote this on the “Justice For Channing” Facebook page later that day: “The IMPACT today was amazing. I gave my #justiceforchanning keynote to an entire middle school. 400+ kids gave me so much love at the end. Two kids came forward and gave me hugs with tears in their eyes. They shared that they had tried to take their own life previously. They thanked me for sharing this story with them.”
And what were some of the reactions from students and staff?
“I think that Joshua gave an extremely powerful assembly today. His message is so important and I think our kids enjoyed it and were wonderful participants. We will continue this important conversation with our students,” Ordan said.
“Josh’s presentation was heartfelt, inspiring, and educational. Josh held the attention and kept them engaged,” Cruz said. “He shared his personal challenges and provided ideas and solutions for the audience. My favorite part was seeing how well the youth embraced him. Some gave him high fives, a hug and cried on his shoulder because they felt connected to his story.”
“This speech helped our school understand bullying because you never know what people are going through. His message was motivating and helpful to the students,” said sixth grader Kiley Hall.
“I am thankful that Josh told the truth about bullying,” Landon Corbett, another sixth grader said.
“Josh Smith engaged students with a powerful message about bullying and its effects. He connected with students in an honest and heartfelt way while addressing this important topic. We are so grateful that we were able to provide students with this amazing experience!” NMS Assistant Principal Melanie Meyer said.
“Thank you for coming Josh. I have heard only positive things. You made a great impact on our kids,” NMS Principal John Ginter wrote in an e-mail to Smith after the event.