Today, our own Dr. Gutierrez takes a look at National Youth Violence Prevention Week.
- Dr. Gutierrez
As spring break ends and most students reluctantly return to class, the very serious subject of youth violence will be one of the topics at the forefront.
March 18-22 marks National Youth Violence Prevention Week. This nationwide campaign is designed to raise awareness and educate students, teachers, counselors, parents and the general public on effective ways to prevent or reduce youth violence.
Violence affects all people regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or religion, but violence disproportionately affects young people. The young person can be a victim, offender, or witness to the violent act. According to the CDC, youth violence is the second leading cause of death for young people age 15-24.
Each day of the Youth Violence Prevention Week focuses on different activities in regards to violence prevention:
Day1: Promote Respect and Tolerance
Day2: Manage Your Anger, Don’t Let it Manage You!
Day 3: Resolve Conflicts Peacefully
Day 4: Support Safety
Day 5: Unite in Action
Much of the focus is to remind us that while anger is a normal human feeling, violence is not a normal human reaction. The activities of this education initiative help to demonstrate the positive role young people can have in making their school and community safer.
The ultimate goal is to stop youth violence before it starts.
Take some time this week to find out more about Youth Violence, and what you can do to help prevent it. There's even some chapters of Students Against Violence Everywhere in San Antonio. And some great suggestions of activities to do this week to promote awareness can be found here. What will you be doing this week to help spread awareness of Youth Violence Prevention?
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