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##  Youth Summits: Law-Related Education for Violence Prevention. ERIC              Digest.                                                                      

The youth summit, which engages adolescent students, public                     officials, and lawyers in discourse and deliberation about critical             social problems and legal issues, is becoming a popular method of               law-related education.  This Digest discusses (1) the youth summit              concept in law-related education, (2) examples of youth summits                 across the United States, (3) support for youth summits by                      organizations of lawyers and educators, (4) best practices for youth            summits, and (5) resources for youth summits. THE YOUTH SUMMIT                CONCEPT IN LAW-RELATED EDUCATION.Youth summits are an important             part of law-related education, especially as they address violence              prevention.  Youth summits bring together students from diverse                 backgrounds and ask them to work with adults to confront social                 problems and issues that affect them. Participants have a chance to             present their ideas and opinions to policymakers.  Thus they can                influence law and government through resolution of public issues. By            involving young people in solving the problem of youth violence                 rather than imposing a "treatment" on them, youth summits have a                positive impact on young people's behavior as responsible citizens.             Youth summits also offer opportunities for participants to learn new            skills and knowledge, and instill in young people a sense of                    responsibility for developing and participating in solutions to the             challenges facing their communities. 
The models used in many                  states include pre-summit activities for students and/or teachers,              such as law-related education lessons, surveys, background research,            and assignments focusing on youth violence.  During many summits                students develop "action plans" to prevent violence in their schools            and communities.  Follow-up summit activities include service                   learning projects, school-based summits, and reports.  Youth summits            bring diverse experts and speakers from a variety of backgrounds,               including police chiefs, juvenile justice officials, college and                university professors, members of Congress, lawyers, judges from                various courts including the state supreme court, television                    personalities, and many others. YOUTH SUMMITS ACROSS THE UNITED               STATES.The U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency                  Prevention's Youth for Justice Program has been promoting youth                 summits since 1995. A variety of models are used, varying in size               from fewer than 50 students to over a thousand. Summits take place              in a variety of venues, from school auditoriums and state                       courthouses, to churches and local TV stations. They cover a                    plethora of topics important to young people, such as substance                 abuse and gun safety. 
Some summits modify  the standard youth                 summit model to attract special audiences.  A "Girls' Summit" in                Florida, sponsored by the American Association of University Women,             addressed summit topics of importance to young women, such as teen              pregnancy and date rape.  Other summits go beyond state borders to              bring together even wider audiences. An online "Junior Summit,"                 hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab,                  involved students ages 10-16 from around the globe, discussing, in a            variety of languages, projects that addressed important world                   problems. 
A National Online Youth Summit conducted in 1999-2000 by            the American Bar Association Division for Public Education brought              together 1500 high school students from 26 states in "virtual                   communities" to discuss timely legal and public policy topics of                special interest to young people, such as the death penalty and                 toxic waste disposal.  The summit's culminating activity allowed                students to "chat" with the lawyers who had argued the case in                  question before the Supreme Court, as well as other legal                       experts. SUPPORT BY LAWYERS AND EDUCATORS.The Wyoming Youth               Summit is a striking example of what can be accomplished through the            collaboration of bar associations, law-related education programs,              and students.  The Wyoming Bar Association and Foundation have                  cooperated with the Wyoming LRE Council to develop highly effective             youth summits that provide students in Wyoming with opportunities to            meet one another and explore ways to prevent violence. In the course            of the 1995 Summit, for example, the 75 students attending decided              that Wyoming should pass legislation to create teen courts.  The                students visited the state capital to make presentations in support             of teen courts to House and Senate Judiciary hearings.  Their                   lobbying was a success; teen court legislation passed in 1996.                  Subsequently, the state bar association and the Wyoming LRE Council             cooperated to create teen courts in four Wyoming cities.  The                   resources of the Wyoming Bar Association allowed the LRE Council to             develop a youth summit that will have lasting impact on the students            involved, as well as young people throughout the state -- the future            beneficiaries of the teen courts created by the summit. 
With a                grant from the Lincoln National Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana,             the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association partnered            with local organizations to create "Youth Empowerment Summits" for              middle and high school students in 22 cities.  One such summit                  occurred in Fort Wayne, Indiana in May 1998.  A planning committee              of six public school students and two Catholic school students                  developed a format in which adult leaders planned the logistical                aspects of the summit, while the students selected the topics. Three            topics were chosen: teachers' strikes, diversity, and "dangerous                choices."  The Young Lawyers invited a diverse group of 170 seventh             and eighth graders from public schools and Catholic schools in Allen            County, Indiana to attend. 
They developed a program using the                 Youth for Justice "Youth Summit Planning Guide." One session                    featured a television talk show format with a panel of teachers, two            student moderators, and the superintendent of the local school                  district, who discussed a teachers' work slowdown and contract                  negotiations.  In other sessions, students presented skits on                   party/drinking scenarios, and local hospital resource people                    discussed statistics on teen pregnancy and gun violence.  The summit            was so successful that the schools involved in this event expected              it to be conducted annually. BEST PRACTICES FOR YOUTH                         SUMMITS.Successful youth summits involve the students in some               aspect of development: using their advice and opinions by surveying             them in advance, including them in planning on an advisory board, or            covering topics of their choosing.  Student involvement during the              summit -- debating, role-playing, discussing, etc. -- is also                   important.  Students retain knowledge and skills better when they               learn actively, and they show greater dedication to achieving the               goals of the summit when they assume responsibility for developing              those goals. 
In summary, the most effective practices for youth               summits are: 
*  involving students in the planning process 
*                active learning of knowledge and skills 
*  examining topics                   relevant to young peoples' lives 
*  involving community members               from legislatures, social service agencies, and the legal                       profession RESOURCES FOR YOUTH SUMMITS.The following resources            are recommended to organizers and participants in youth summits: 
*            American Bar Association Division for Public Education -- Youth                 Summits: Includes information on youth summits and in-depth profiles            of youth summits around the U.S., as well as youth summit links and             resources.  Also, the directory of LRE programs at                              http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lre/main.html includes links to the              Web site of every state program that offers youth summits. For more             information about youth summits, or to order a copy of  "Technical              Assistance Bulletin No. 18: Youth Summits: Engaging Young People in             Violence Prevention," call (312) 988-5735, or send an e-mail to                 [email protected]. 
*  The Constitutional Rights Foundation            Chicago: http://www.crfc.org/  Includes the "Youth Summit Planning              Guide" in downloadable format; curricula; student guides; a survey;             information, graphs, and statistics on past summits; and links to               other law-related education and issues-related Web sites (e.g.,                 guns, date rape, hate crimes); call (312) 663-9057. 
*  Minnesota              Center for Community Legal Education: http://www.ccle.fourh.umn.edu             Information and pictures from past summits, links to the text of the            legislation future summits will explore, and links to summit                    speakers and sponsors. 
*  National Online Youth Summit:                       http://www.abanet.org/publiced/youth/youth99.html  The American Bar             Association Division for Public Education's innovative new national             youth summit is profiled here, along with background materials and              teaching activities for various summit topics. 
*  21st Century                Schoolhouse Biennial Summits:                                                   http://www.viser.net/~gs21/biennial.htm Features extensive                      information on the organization's 1997 summit, including a detailed             agenda, opening remarks, participants' work, and photographs from               the international delegations; information on the 1999 summit; and              information about the organization. REFERENCES AND ERIC                       RESOURCES.The following list of resources includes references               used to prepare this Digest.  The items followed by an ED number are            available in microfiche and/or paper copies from the ERIC Document              Reproduction Service (EDRS).  For information about prices, contact             EDRS, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia                     22153-2852; telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800)                      443-3742.  Entries followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in               CURRENT INDEX TO JOURNALS IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available                through EDRS.  However, they can be located in the journal section              of most larger libraries by using the bibliographic information                 provided, requested through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from                  commercial reprint services. 
Corvo, Kenneth N. "Community-Based               Youth Violence Prevention: A Framework for Planners and Funders."               YOUTH AND SOCIETY 28 (March 1997): 291-316.  EJ 542 132. 
Kivel,               Paul, and Allan Creighton.  MAKING THE PEACE: A 15-SESSION VIOLENCE             PREVENTION CURRICULUM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.  Alameda, CA: Hunter House,             Inc., 1997.  ED 415 300. 
Perry, George S., Jr.  YOUTH SUMMITS:                YOUTH AND ADULTS AS PARTNERS IN VIOLENCE PREVENTION.  Chicago:                  American Bar Association, 1995.  ED 402 233. 
Prothrow-Stith,                  Deborah B.  "Violence Prevention in the Schools." NEW ENGLAND                   JOURNAL OF PUBLIC POLICY 10 (Summer/Fall 1994): 107-122. EJ 536                 990. 
Wolfe, David A., and Others.  ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE:                  EMPOWERING YOUTH TO DEVELOP HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS.  Thousand Oaks,              CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1997.  ED 405 420. 
Wright, Norma.                FROM RISK TO RESILIENCY: THE ROLE OF LAW-RELATED EDUCATION.                     Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education, 1994.  ED 377                        123. 
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This project has been funded at least in part with               Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract              number ED-99-CO-0016. The content of this publication does not                  necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of             Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or              organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.  ERIC                   Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and               disseminated. 
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Hannah Leiterman is a staff associate of the            American Bar Association's Division of Public Education.                     **Title:** Youth Summits: Law-Related Education for Violence Prevention. ERIC              Digest.                                                                      **Document Type:** Guides---Non-Classroom Use (055); Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Target Audience:** Practitioners, Teachers                                                      **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 2805            East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN 47408; Tel:                       800-266-3815. For full text:                                                    http://www.indiana.edu/~ssdc/eric_chess.htm.                                 **Descriptors:**  Adolescents, Citizenship Education, Delinquency,  Law Related                  Education,  Prevention, Secondary Education, Social Studies,                     Violence, Workshops,  Youth Programs                                        **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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