NCJ Number
185617
Date Published
2000
Length
471 pages
Annotation
This is a compilation of writings by young persons who participated in a program to develop strategies for stopping violence.
Abstract
The Do the Write Thing Challenge encourages middle school students to discuss and write about youth violence in their communities and to make personal commitments to do something about the problem. During the 2000 school year, more than 36,000 seventh- and eighth-grade students from 300 middle schools participated in Do the Write Thing-sponsored classroom discussions about youth violence. More than 9,000 students chose to accept the challenge by submitting writings to their local Challenge committee and by initiating violence reduction efforts. In 2000, 14 cities and 26 National Guard Challenge Sites participated in the program. This book contains the best essays written by a boy and a girl from each of the locations. The writings of these young people have been published and placed in the Library of Congress. The Do the Write Thing program stimulates dialogue between students and their teachers and between students and their community leaders. It is having a positive impact on the communities in which participating students live, in part because it involves young people directly in the development of responses to youth violence.