Twelve - that's the number of children who have been shot in Jacksonville this year.
Now, a local program is looking to fuel change through music.
It's called Project Earbud.
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Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole explains how the program is already impacting some local middle schoolers.
When you play the song “Do The Right Thing,” the chorus stays with you for the rest of the day.
"Do it, do it, do it -I'mma do the right thing! Do it, do it, do it - I'mma do the right thing."
Doing the right thing is exactly what Fred Amp Webster says he's been teaching our young people to do through the creation of Project Earbud.
"It's a program where we go into the school, we teach them lessons [about] how to deal with conflict and violence and then we actually record music during those sessions,” Webster told Action News Jax.
Webster, the Founder and Program Director, says he partnered with Kids Hope Alliance to start the program in January.
Students who participated in the program at Highlands Middle and Fort Caroline learned about anger management, social media responsibility, community pride and personal development.
"The culmination of those sessions is an end-of-the-year stop the violence party,” Webster said.
Last week, the students got to premiere their music videos.
“Then we post it online, and we're able to share those, and hopefully it goes viral and the positive message of antiviolence,” said Webster.
“We were kind of amazed at how it sounds. We were kind of proud of ourselves!” Justice Walker said with a smile.
"Tweens" between the ages of 8 and 12 spend six hours a day consuming media.
That includes watching TV and videos and listening to music.
That number is even higher for teens at nine hours a day. That’s according to a study conducted by Common Sense Media.
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Webster said he decided to use music to get them talking about the economic and social impact of violence because music is a universal language.
"First we had to write the song, then we got our beat together and then we rapped on the beat and then each part separate by itself,” said Walker.
Webster told Action News Jax he hopes to collaborate with more schools next school year.
"If no one's here to help shape, guide, direct how they process the things they've been exposed to we're leaving them out there on their own and we're doing them a disservice,” said Webster.