TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” That well-known formula is Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states that for every force there is a reaction force equal in size but opposite in direction.
A billiard ball struck with force from one direction will move with equal force in the opposite direction. It’s a basic law of physics, and it’s always true.
But what about human behavior? When acted upon, are humans pre-programmed to react in predictable ways, or do we have ’agency’ to choose how we react?
For instance, if a person grows up without a father, or with economic disadvantages, or in a low-nurture environment, is that person destined to react to these influences in predictable, negative ways?
Suntanna Flemmings sure doesn’t think so, and she wants the 15 girls in her mentoring group to prove it.
The 31-year-old Flemmings is the founder of the non-profit Life Saver Group For Girls in Tupelo. She started the group four years ago with the motto, “For every action there is a Life Saver reaction.”
Flemmings believes mentoring from positive role models can be a ’life saver,’ helping young women make choices that will lead to a better life.
She began Life Saver as a way to keep the girls in her group busy, positive, and surrounded by good people. They meet together regularly as a group, as well as in one-on-one sessions.
Every summer, they take a group trip together. This summer the group will visit Panama City, Florida.
“This work is what God gave me to do,” she said.
Flemmings is carefully dressed and well-coiffed, with the gentle demeanor of a natural caregiver and the multi-tasking skills of a natural leader.
In addition to her work with Life Saver, she is an elementary education student at Northeast Mississippi Community College, a community organizer (she and her group are responsible for the ’Stop the Violence’ parade in Tupelo), and a part-time retail employee. She even has a boyfriend.
“Sometimes he complains,” she said with a laugh.
Flemmings grew up in a nurturing, Christian home, and faith plays a key role in her work. While she doesn’t force her girls to go to church, she strongly encourages it.
“I know that when they go to church they can hear something that can change their lives,” she said.
The girls in her group range in age from middle school through college. Flemmings said most of them are from economically disadvantaged, single-parent families where achieving life goals and dreams is especially daunting.
“I tell the girls, ’It’s good to dream. But I want you to do more than dream. I want you to be dream achievers,’” she said.
While her own home was stable and supportive, Flemmings said she understands the pressures many of the girls in her group are facing - challenges at home and at school, poverty, pressures from social media, and most of all, absent father figures, which Flemmings said paves the way for other problems.
“Most of these girls never had a daddy to say ’I love you’ to them. Some of them have been molested. They latch onto the first boy who says ’I love you.’ They reach out with sex, and then they act like they can’t go on if something happens. I want to tell them there’s more to life than that. Life goes on,” she said. “You don’t have to be crippled because you didn’t have that. That should just make you want something better.”
While she has many positive role models who helped to form her own identity, Flemmings said the standout was her grandfather.
“I guess my main role model would be my grandfather, L.C. Westmoreland. My grandmother passed at an early age. My grandfather went to the army, fought in the war, and came on back and raised 12 kids. He was a great guy,” she said.
While she is a natural optimist with high hopes for the young women involved in Life Saver, Flemmings isn’t naive about the challenges they face.
“It’s a spinning wheel, and it’s hard to get your foot in there to stop it. I just tell these girls, ’I don’t care who else left you. I don’t care who else is going to leave you. I’m not going to leave you,’” she said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.