Phil Chalmers
True Lies
Phil Chalmers is an author and national speaker whose focus is on the safety and well being of the youth of America, as well as young people all over the world. Phil writes books, produces videos, writes documentaries, and speaks live all over the U.S. and abroad.
The various topics he deals with vary from teen sex and teen drugs use to teen violence, teen suicide, violent crime, crime prevention, destructive media, and self-abuse.
Phil has written several books, and his latest is called Can You Handle The Truth? His videos include the very successful True Lies about teen entertainment, and his current project is a book for Thomas Nelson, Anatomy of a Teen Killer, his two-decade study of teen killers and school shooters. This book is due to be released in November 10, 2008 and a movie is planned for 2010.
Phil Chalmers has been writing and traveling the country speaking to teens, parents, and youth workers for more than two decades. His passion for helping America's youth is very evident when meeting Phil in person. His goal in life is to help as many teens as possible live peaceful and fulfilling lives, and to steer them clear from bad decisions.
His newest project, Anatomy of a Teen Killer, is due to be released in 2008. The book details Phil's many years of research into teen killers and school shooters. After watching the news reports after each school shooting, he realized America didn't understand the "why?" question to these tragic events. He has spent last few years corresponding with teen killers and school shooters, doing face to face interviews, and extensively researching this topic.
The new book and live show titled Anatomy of a Teen Killer will document the "why" and "how" of teen murder, as well as uncover warning signs that America should be aware of. He hopes to detail the ten major risk factors of teen violence, with the goal of saving innocent lives, and keeping our children out of prison. The book will be full of advice on how to keep your children safe, where to go for help, and will include the largest list of teen murders ever printed in a written book.
Phil's previous projects include a video series titled Music to Die For about violent entertainment, as well as a video series titled True Lies about media violence and the destructive decisions teens are faced with on a daily basis. His books include one on media discernment titled The Official I Don't Listen to the Lyrics Handbook and his latest teen book Can You Handle the Truth? A future book project focuses on sex and dating, entitled Sex, Lies and the Lamborghini.
Phil has made many media appearances, including the Montel Williams Show and the Howard Stern Show. He has presented live seminars in every state in America, and has appeared on hundreds off radio and television stations abroad.
He also has had the opportunity to meet, interview and debate many artists, including Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, GWAR, Insane Clown Posse, Metallica, Megadeth, P.O.D, The Geto Boys, 2 Live Crew, Cannibal Corpse, and many, many more. He has been a conference speaker on major tours including the Acquire the Fire Tour and the C.I.Y. Summer Camp Tour.
Phil resides in the Cleveland, Ohio area with his wife Barb and his teenage son Phillip, along with his best friend, his brindle boxer named Raymond.
What Others Are Saying . . .
“Thank you so much for coming to my school. You have permanently changed my perspective on things. I will never forget what you have done for me.”
Texas Teen
“I was going to keep my virginity until I was like married. I thought that’s a long time, but now that you came to our school and said that stuff about drinking, sex and everything, you changed my mind. Not only do I not want people taking advantage of me, but now I don’t want a disease as well.”
Middle School Girl
“You came to my school yesterday and everyone was wowed by it. It was pretty cool to see my school finally excited about something good. Usually everyone is bored by the assemblies, but I heard a lot of people rething their lives afterwards. it was pretty amazing. Thanks for influencing me and my friends lives.”
Amanda
“Before you came to my school, I was listening to rap music and thinking it was cool. I knew it was bad, but you helped me better realize how demeaning it is to women and others. I could also relate to your talks about sex since I have been molested and thought I could never be a virgin again. I thank you so much, you have changed my life. When I walked out of that assembly I felt like a better person.”
Hannah, Illinois
“When I listened to you speak about sex and STDs it really made me think. I had been planning to have some sexual activity for my first time with my girlfriend later that week. I had known that she had been with only one other guy. Before I heard you speak, I didn’t realize the danger I was putting myself in. Your words made me realize that condoms are not as good as I thought. After school that day, I told my girlfriend that we should probably wait until marriage. It’s all thanks to you and I’m glad you took the time to come to our school and talk to us. Thanks for the advice.”
Ray, Oklahoma
“I’ve been clean now for almost a year and a half. It’ll be two years this June since I stopped using drugs. I still thank God everyday for having you come to my camp two summers ago, because you really have helped me significantly. If it wasn’t for you man I wouldn’t be here.”
Chris, teen guy, Massachusetts
Anatomy of a Teen Killer
Phil's new book, Anatomy of a Teen Killer (release date, 2008), is an anti-violence project aimed at teens, parents, and youth workers with the goal of stopping teen violence, and, at the same time, saving innocent lives. Below is an overview of the soon-to-be-released book:
In my early twenties, I found myself sitting across a sandy-haired young man who arguably looked and acted like the average teenager-next-door. He had a gentle demeanor and was considerably soft-spoken, articulate and polite. He wore not only a meditative expression on his face, but handcuffs on his wrists and iron shackles on his ankles. He and I sat in a visitor's room on death row in an Oklahoma state prison. We were surrounded by a number of corrections officers and separated by a world of freedom and some painfully irreversible and tragic choices.
This young man was professed Satanist Sean Sellers who, in 1985, brutally killed a convenience store clerk and his own parents in the name of Satan. He wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone. Sean was executed by the state of Oklahoma in 1999, the first American in four decades to be put to death for a crime committed as a minor. When I first heard his story and started corresponding with Sean, I was already passionately involved in a mission to serve our nation's youth. Yet his story catapulted me even further.
I began investing more of my time and energies into determining how and why youth culture seemed to be morally declining at a remarkably fast pace. I wanted to figure out what makes a "good kid" misroute himself into a life of crime, whether stealing candy or killing his parents. I met with and picked the brains of thousands of young people and hundreds of convicted felons all over the country in search of answers to the questions most of us are asking today.
Especially when we read about incidents like:
Alex Helgeson, a fourteen year old church kid shot his mother in the back of the head and turned the gun on both of his younger brothers, killing them as well. After writing a suicide note, he ended his bloody spree by killing himself.
Clay Shrout, a Kentucky killer, murdered his entire family before taking a class at school hostage.
Jason Lewis from Georgia shot his parents to death as they watched television in the living room.
Clinton Bankston, a fifteen year old boy went on a crime spree with a knife and hatchet, robbing and killing five people.
Craig Price, possibly one of the youngest serial killers ever, killed four people by his fifteenth birthday, using an axe and a knife as his weapons.
Luke Woodham, a pudgy sixteen year old boy in Mississippi slit his mother's throat then drove to school where he shot nine people, including his girlfriend.
What went wrong? How could these quiet, otherwise normal kids murder in cold blood? What would cause a person to kill their own parents? What led to that young man killing innocent classmates at the very school he grew up in? Could we have stopped them?
Anatomy of a Teen Killer is a book detailing the first-hand accounts of the crimes these men and women have committed as teenagers, as well as their motives and psychological profiles from a layman's perspective. These individuals - Clay Shrout, Luke Woodham, and Craig Price, to name a few - will describe life in prison and give an inside look into their pre-adult lives leading up to their criminal activity. This book also weaves in two decades worth of my personal research about youth culture to analyze the disturbing ascent of teen violence and offer ways that we, as individuals, leaders and communities, can help detonate this alarming trend.
Topics that will be explored include:
The many causes of teen violence, ranging from abusive homes to peer pressure to gangs and cults
teen drug abuse and its connection to teen murder violent youth culture, including popular music and video games, and the fixation youth have of violence international teen murder the relationship between adult serial killers and their adolescent years the U.S. penal system and prison life for the convicted teen murderer.
Anatomy of a Teen Killer divulges a handful of advice, particularly coming out of the mouths of the murderers themselves. This will furnish strategies that may help present warning signs that parents and teachers can watch out for in violent kids as well as ways to avoid becoming a victim. This book will also provide the largest list of teen murders ever published in one resource, dating back to the 1700s.
Serial killer David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz has agreed to write the foreword for this book and is excited to share his outlook on teen violence in today's culture. The afterword will be written by Pearl, Mississippi school shooter Luke Woodham, which will offer readers a refreshing, yet shocking wake-up call.
In order to receive updates that are of most interest to you, please include the state where you live and, if applicable, your type of ministry or business. Please include your email address if it is different from the email address used to send your request.
