CHARLOTTE, N.C. — From clear book bags to a new Say Something app, which will allow students to report safety concerns anonymously, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is trying to address more guns being brought to campuses throughout the district.

School leaders say they found nearly two dozen guns at different CMS schools last year.  To combat this, Bernel Berry, a CMS dad, is trying to do more.

He’s outside of West Charlotte High School almost twice a week, hanging posters for his organization 1Love. His daughter is a senior at a CMS school, so these incidents hit close to home.

With the shooting outside of West Charlotte High School almost two months ago, Berry thought this would be a good place to focus. He says 1Love stands for Life Over Violence Everyday.

“The message is simple,” he said. "The students need to be thinking life over violence."

He started the grassroots effort in 2014 to combat violence in the community and now his focus has turned to schools. He holds community drives around the city as well.

He wants to encourage kids who might be going through a tough time. So while hanging posters, he tries to catch kids skipping school, and encourage them to go back inside.

"We want to be interceptors and give them some positive feedback,” he said. “Encourage them that going back to school is important because there is nothing in these streets for these kids but trouble.”

Berry says he knows what it’s like to struggle as a teen.

“My mom was a single parent raising six of us. I remember tough times,” he said. "I remember being bullied, picked on. So, I remember those things growing up and I said to myself that I wanted to make a difference.”

The guns found on school campuses, including the incident at West Charlotte, sparked the district to spend half a million dollars on clear book bags. Many have been critical of this decision and spoke up at a December school board meeting.

“A clear book bag, a metal detector, the student is already crying out for help,” said student Breana Fowler, the 2021 Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools student advisor.

Berry echoes this, saying he hopes his story connects to other kids who may be struggling.

“These children are going through something at school and the gun is for protection,” he said. “You may have out of 100 kids, 5% wanted to show it off. But nine out of 10, they’re bringing it to a place where they know they could be expelled, in these cases it’s for protection.”

CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston has said in the past that a student caught bringing a gun to campus will be expelled. Berry is hoping through his hands-on efforts, he can be a positive light for kids who may need help.

“We know in our hearts we are making a difference,” he said.

A school safety expert from the National Association of School Resource Officers says there could be a number of reasons a child decides to bring a gun to school.

Mo Canady, the executive director for the organization, says it’s a problem across the country, not just here.

He adds schools have seen in an increase of incidents throughout the pandemic as kids may have less access to mental health resources during this time. We asked how clear book bags may or may not help this issue.

“We have to be careful that we don’t unintentionally create a false sense of security,” he said. "The same thing applies to metal detectors, the same thing applies to cameras, whatever the technology or thing is that you are putting in place, you have to make sure you have policy and procedure around. Not just going OK we have clear backpacks, so we won’t have weapons anymore."

Berry says he his goal is to partner with CMS schools to get more educators and parents involved.

The district tells us so far, there are no plans, but they are aware of Berry’s organization.