NCJ Number
192632
Date Published
July 2001
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This videotape presents five adolescents’ perspectives on the events in their lives and the choices they made that had a major impact on their attitudes and actions, as well as well as their relationships with their families, friends, and communities.
Abstract
Justin explains how he had talent as a football player in high school, but felt that something was missing from his life. He became involved with a program called Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America and chose it over football. He discovered that his involvement in the program helped him develop leadership skills, set priorities for his life, help others, and develop a closer relationship with his father. Sarah tells how she ignored warnings about drinking and driving and was nearly killed in a traffic crash at age 15 as a passenger in a car driven by a teenager who had been drinking. Sarah underwent a lengthy period of rehabilitation following her severe head injury. She became involved in Students Against Destructive Decisions and tells her story to young people across her State. She has learned to live with her limitations that have resulted from the accident and has become involved in a statewide campaign to urge people to use seat belts when in a vehicle. Melina tells how she became involved at age 14 in efforts to stop underage drinking of alcohol and how four of her friends died in alcohol-related accidents. She became involved in a statewide program called Project YYUDA (Adults and Youth Understanding the Destructiveness of Alcohol). Niko and Theo describe how their distress about youth deaths in gun-related incidents led to their leadership of a campaign to ban ammunition sales in their city. The law did not pass, but they felt that they gained from the effort and learned that when youth work together they can make their voices heard. A separate wrap-up section of the videotape presents each youth’s comments on their experiences, their feelings, and their desire to make a difference to their families, friends, and communities.