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Wasted! Guns & Teens, Lives & Dreams

NCJ Number
164677
Date Published
1996
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Designed to have an impact on violent juveniles, this video attempts to turn young minds away from violence and toward education and shows that gun violence involves both urban and rural students and all ethnic groups.
Abstract
The video begins by noting that 160,000 guns are carried into classrooms daily, that firearm murders of youth 19 years of age and under have risen by 125 percent over the last 6 years, and that 15 young people die each day from gunshot wounds. The video presents graphic examples and re-enactments of violent incidents and calls upon experts and students to devise possible solutions to violence. The video focuses on gang and drug-related violence, violence prevention education, the real-life nature of violence on the streets versus movie representations of violence, the importance of pursuing positive dreams and of maintaining self-respect, the destructive impact of guns on communities and schools, the lack of judicial and societal tolerance for violence, the fact that teenagers can be charged as adults if they commit violent acts, and alternatives to violence as a means of resolving disputes. The video highlights the techniques used by the Slick Boys, a group of Chicago undercover police officers, to persuade young people to stay away from guns and violence.