NCJ Number
220931
Journal
THE POLICE CHIEF Volume: 74 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 130,132,134,137,139,140,142,144,146
Date Published
October 2007
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article describes and presents the evaluation findings for the Commonwealth Youth Conference for Leadership Effectiveness (CYCLE), which is a Virginia program for youth ages 13-15 that focuses on good decisionmaking, communication skills, diversity, good citizenship, and issues of violence and anger management.
Abstract
After 6 years of operation, CYCLE's results have exceeded the expectations of its sponsors. Feedback from youth participants, their parents, police, and other stakeholders show that the program has increased participants' sense of personal accountability and responsibility for providing leadership in cultivating acceptance of diversity among youth at school and in the community. The article notes, however, that much of CYCLE's evaluation data are anecdotal and not statistical. Program sponsors are planning to remedy this in future evaluations. CYCLE involves a partnership of the local police agency, the local high school, students, and their parents/guardians. The program is a week-long education course that accommodates 125 rising 10th-graders into 1 of 5 courses (25 students per session). The cost per student is $750, which covers tuition, instructional fees, course materials, lodging, meals, and recreational activities. The program is offered at no cost to the students or their families, as the sponsors rely on the financial support of police agencies, businesses, concerned citizens, and public and private grants. The program was initiated and is administered by the Virginia Police Chiefs Foundation and the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Overall, the program aims to help students become aware of how various behaviors can help or hurt the quality and safety of communal life, whether at school or in the community. CYCLE teaches student participants the knowledge and skills needed to assume leadership and personal responsibility for providing a constructive influence in groups composed of diverse individuals.