Hands Without Guns

• NCJ Number: 177527
• Author(s): Shannon Pete
• Date Published: July 1999
• Length: 2 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Youth in Action Series
• Agencies: OJJDP

Annotation

This article describes Hands Without Guns, a public health and education campaign of the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence (EFEHV) that rests on the model of positive youth development and engages youth as violence prevention advocates in their communities.

Abstract

The campaign was developed in partnership with a communications firm to address gun violence by providing a forum for positive youth voices. Hands Without Guns uses media outreach and in-school and after-school workshops to involve youth and reduce the demand for guns among youth. Hands Without Guns-DC has developed three outlines to be used as guides for the workshop process. The first workshop introduces Hands Without Guns as a program through youth can work to create positive change. Youth discuss the first workshop and begin to plan and develop antiviolence projects in the second workshop. They review the previous workshops and discuss how to implement projects in the third workshops. A workshop for adults focuses on ways for adults to support youth efforts. In Washington, D.C., 38 percent of 400 students surveyed were aware of the campaign and 1.3 percent of students who were aware of the program had carried a gun, compared to 10.3 percent who were unaware of the program. Address from which to obtain further information