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Choices for Life: Juvenile Justice Prevention

NCJ Number
175501
Date Published
1997
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video attempts to help youngsters to understand and develop positive attitudes about themselves and their community, and to understand the importance of life choices, in an effort to prevent juvenile crime.
Abstract
An officer from a local Los Angeles police department visited 5th graders in their classroom to talk with them about life choices. He composed a large poster featuring a photo of himself and written descriptions of careers he thought about while he was growing up. All the children then composed similar posters using photos of themselves and their own career descriptions. The children also created a safety folder, which included another photo and a fingerprint record created by the officer, and a list of 10 things kids can do to stop violence. The youngsters were encouraged to take the folder home, talk about it with family and keep the photo and fingerprint record in case an emergency identification is ever necessary. This type of interaction helps children see police officers in a positive light, as friends to be trusted, not adversaries.