"It changed me..." shared one student when asked about her participation in National Youth Violence Prevention Week. From March 29 through April 2, schools and communities across the U.S. participated in the collaborative event that celebrates the positive role young people can have in making their schools and communities safer.

It was astounding to see the creative and inspiring ways that people of all ages and walks of life contributed to the success of the week. Students and school staff joined forces to promote violence prevention strategies through activities ranging from classroom lessons to citywide summits. Prevention and safety professionals, including police departments, conflict resolution specialists and social workers, shared their expertise during workshops in schools and community centers. Funds were raised for scholarships to support conflict resolution projects, theatre companies visited schools to perform shows on prevention, and a young Miss America hopeful traveled from school to school teaching students how they can stop violence. Television crews showed up at schools to cover students' activities, radio stations ran interviews with campaign spokespersons, and newspapers in major cities sponsored campaign-related events. Government officials, including city mayors and town councils, granted official declarations to recognize the week and campaign headquarters received letters of support from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools. The campaign even spread beyond our nation's borders, with events occurring across the globe in New Zealand, Chile and India!

Of course the event's success is largely due to the generous support of the campaign sponsors. Campaign founders, National SAVE and The Guidance Channel, express their sincere gratitude to all the organizations for their commitment to the National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign:

Reprinted with permission from The Guidance Channel - April, 2004