Dear Susie,
One of the great joys of traveling around the country sharing hope and encouragement to teens and their families are the incredible and enthusiastic school administrators, counselors and teachers I meet along the way.

In February I was treated to two days of assemblies at Lutheran High School in Orange, California. Pictured from Lutheran High School below are L to R: Parent, Shari Willis, came because her daughter raved about LEGACY OF HOPE the day before; religious studies teachers Mark and Anna Kempf who were excited about discussing the values messages with their classes; Susie Vanderlip; Assistant Principal Kevin Kromminga who graciously made all the arrangements; and student John Andersen who was grateful to know his friends got the LEGACY message on healthy life choices.

Start Planning for National Youth Violence Prevention Week

The week of March 29th through April 2nd, is a nation wide campaign to prevent and reduce youth violence. Each day of the week will focus on a specific violence prevention strategy, including, promoting respect and tolerance, anger management, resolving conflicts peacefully, supporting safety, and uniting in action. To facilitate these topics, “Strategy Sponsors” such as Teaching Tolerance, American School Counselors Association, Association for Conflict Resolution, National Youth Court Center, and Youth Service America, will provide activities and spokespersons to cover the day’s ‘theme’ through their website: www.violencepreventionweek.org.

To inspire community-wide participation, the founders of S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere) have teamed up with The Guidance Channel to recruit “Sector Sponsors” who can bring their knowledge to the campaign. Some Sector Sponsors include the National Association of Student Councils, National Association of School Safety, Law Enforcement Officers, Join Together, and YouthNOISE.

To prepare for these events, the website, www.violencepreventionweek.org, has an official “Action Kit” that is a step by step guide to plan for this week and includes suggestions on how to reach the community.

To receive further information, or to get a free brochure on the National Youth Violence Prevention Week, please write to The Guidance Channel, 135 Dupont Street, PO Box 760, Plainview, NY 11803-0760, call 1-800-99-YOUTH, or visit the website at www.violencepreventionweek.org.

www.jointogether.org

Connecticut Students Get Visual Message to Prevent School Violence

Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E.) gave the students at North Haven High School a visual message when one-day students arrived at school to find colorful post-it notes on every fourth student locker. This was to illustrate that one in every four students becomes a victim of school violence. “I think of it as an experiment,” said junior Karen Beach, 16, the co-president of SAVE. “Even though students may not think the person next to them is affected, they are.” And according to Elaine Hunter, advisor of the SAVE chapter, School violence includes bullying, negative messages written on walls, name calling, violent acts, and Internet chat room slurs.

www.jointogether.org

Violence Begets Behavioral Problems in Kids

According to new research by the Center for the Advancement of Heath, children who witness violence or are victims are more likely than other children to have behavioral problems. This study included 175 children, ages 9 to 12, from an urban pediatric primary-care clinic. The research was conducted by interviewing the children and their mothers to establish if they had been victims of violence, witnessed it first-hand, or heard about violent events from other people or the news. “There is a relationship between the physical proximity of exposure to violence and psychosocial maladjustments among urban school-aged children, “ said Oscar H. Purugganan, M.D., M.P.H., who led the study. “Those who were direct victims of violence had the most behavioral problems, followed by those who were witnesses, and then by those who were exposed through other people’s report or media.”

www.jointogether.org

Teens, Crime, and the Community…Education and Action for Safer Schools and Neighborhoods
“Teens, Crime, and the Community (TCC) is a nationwide effort implemented at the local level to reduce the incidence of teen victimization and engage teens as crime prevention resources in their schools and communities. The goal of the curriculum is to educate youth, teens, and adults about crime and to engage teens as active participants in preventing crime in their homes, schools, and communities. A major focus of the program is designing and implementing a crime prevention project. Topics include victims of crime, violent crimes, property crimes, criminal justice, conflict management, child abuse, acquaintance rape, drunk driving, substance abuse, and drug trafficking.”

www.nationaltcc.org

Teens, Crime, and the Community
c/o Street Law, Inc.
1600 K Street, Suite 602
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-293-0088
Fax: 202-293-0089

www.jointogether.org

Underage Drinking to be Focal Point for Alcohol Awareness Month 2004

This April marks the month-long campaign to raise public awareness of underage drinking and other alcohol-related problems. “Alcohol is a drug that can affect judgment, coordination and long-term health, and research suggests that early use of alcohol by teenagers may contribute significantly to dependence on alcohol and other drugs later in life, with 40% of children who begin using alcohol before the age of 13 becoming alcoholics at some point in their lives.

Alcohol is the number one drug of choice among America's youth and is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages 10 - 24. "As a society," says Stacia Murphy, NCADD's President, "we have to do a better job persuading our citizens and our young people that alcohol use is a dead end, that they're playing Russian Roulette, not only with their own lives, but with the lives of friends, neighbors, and loved ones."

"Save a Life -- End Underage Drinking" is the theme for Alcohol Awareness Month 2004, which will begin with Alcohol-Free Weekend on Friday, April 2 - Sunday, April 4. During this time, NCADD Affiliates across the country will sponsor youth-planned and youth-run Alcohol-Free events, and parents and other adults will be asked to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages for a 72-hour period to demonstrate that alcohol isn't necessary to have a good time. In addition, throughout the month, all family members will be encouraged to learn more about alcoholism and its early symptoms and to contact Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and local NCADD Affiliates for information about recovery.”

www.jointogether.org

To read more about related underage drinking articles please visit our previous February newsletter on our website, or click on the link below.

As my yoga teacher always says, "Namaste... Go with love, light and delight!"

Sincerely,
All of us at LEGACY
Susie Vanderlip - Ken Vanderlip - Tara Seamans
800-707-1977