A School for Courage

Research has shown that when young people have their basic needs met and feel positive about their futures, they are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. The Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program has reduced pregnancy rates by 40 percent in New York by meeting teens educational, emotional, and employment needs.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

The Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Quebec has expanded rapidly, becoming a model for programs around the world. What sets it apart from projects in Europe and the United States is that it confronts extremism of all stripes — not just Islamist — and focuses on behavior that signals the risk of violence, not just radical ideas, only involving law enforcement as a last resort.

Many young Latina women live their lives in fear of gang violence. The Montgomery County Street Outreach Network rescues girls in danger and offers services to them in order to help them change their chances of success.

Figure Skating in Harlem is a group working to help young girls of color in New York learn teamwork, dedication, and hardwork - and the art of figure skating, a sport that is often perceived as inaccessible and overwhelmingly white and Asian-American. But the program doesn't just stop there; the program also includes academic and leadership development.

Uganda’s education ministry requires all schools to have incinerators to burn used sanitary pads. Lack of funding limits schools’ ability to comply. Even when incinerators exist, girls don’t necessarily use them. Educating both girls and boys about menstruation reduces stigma and increases the likelihood that girls feel comfortable enough to collect pads instead of throwing them in pit latrines.

Across New Hampshire, youth are leading the fight against substance abuse. Programs like Dover’s Youth-to-Youth, Stand Up Sachems, Youth Leadership Through Adventure, and the Making it Happen Coalition, are all youth-led, adult-supported initiatives that are empowering young adults to create and disseminate substance abuse awareness and prevention campaigns. Fundamental to each of these efforts effective communication and creating a sense of community as key to prevention.

Clarke County School District in Georgia has 21 public schools that all offer free meals to students, regardless of their financial needs. This is facilitated through a federally-funded program, so even though poverty rates are high in the area, local residents are not footing the bill. While there are still some challenges implementing the program, in general it is received well and allows students to focus on their work and well-being instead of being distracted by hunger.

Teens selling water on the sweltering streets of Atlanta are typically dealt with by police officers who often crack down on "unpermitted sales of water by youth." In a new approach, city officials convened a council to offer alternatives to police action and suggested ways to promote and develop the entrepreneurial spirit in teens through a variety of programs. The council looked to a similar program in Baltimore that re-engaged windshield-washing teens in school and re-directed others to full-time jobs.

Seven teen suicides in one county over a two-year span prompted residents whose lives were touched by suicide to form DeFeet, an educational and advocacy group devoted to the message that suicide is preventable. Thanks in part to its trainings, public speakers, support groups, public education campaigns, and advocacy for gun safety, local schools now screen all students for suicide risk starting in middle school. A local health clinic now screens all patients and credits DeFeet, named for its annual 5K memorial walk, with creating "an environment where we are not as afraid to talk about suicide."