Since T.I. pleaded guilty to three firearms violations charges and faces at least 1,000 hours over the next year preaching nonviolence to “at-risk youth” the phone has been ringing off the hook.

Schools have been calling for T.I. to come talk common sense, learned the hard way, to their students.

Yesterday he spoke to Stockbridge High School students in Henry County Georgia as part of a deal.

“If any of you know me, you know I’m (gonna) keep it real,” he told surprised 10th and 11th graders. “I don’t laugh if it ain’t funny. I don’t scratch if I don’t itch. If helping you guys wasn’t something that was a passion of mine — and really something on my heart — I wouldn’t be here.”

“… Hopefully the mistakes I’ve made can come across to you. And you can see where I went wrong, so you don’t have to go down the same road.”

On March 29, less than 24 hours after the plea, attorneys for T.I. said requests for him to speak began rolling in.