Under the leadership of GuidanceChannel.com, and National Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE), organizations across the country are beginning to plan for an educational and awareness event that highlights the role students can play in making their schools and communities safer. In addition to promoting various violence prevention strategies, National Youth Violence Prevention Week, held April 3-7, 2006, will provide a unique opportunity for people of all ages and walks of life to join forces to address this crucial issue.

Since founding the event, GuidanceChannel.com and National SAVE have been helping various associations to connect and collaborate through the initiative. Within the first two years, they gained the support of the American School Counselor Association, Teaching Tolerance, Association for Conflict Resolution, National Association of Student Councils, Youth Service America, National Youth Court Center, National Education Association's Health Information Network, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers, United Religions Initiative, and YouthNOISE.

The coalition has expanded enormously for the 2006 event, bringing participants from a wide variety of perspectives and resources to the campaign. Thousands of students are taking part through associations such as FCCLA's Stop The Violence, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), and the National Peer Helpers Association. Mental health professionals are involved through the National Association Of School Psychologists, American Counseling Association, National Mental Health Association, and School Social Work Association of America. Researchers are offering their expertise with the support of such sponsors as the Hamilton Fish Institute, Institute for Mental Health Initiatives at GWU's School of Public Health And Health Services, UCLA's School Mental Health Project/Center for Mental Health In Schools, and Portland State University Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health. On a state level, The Governor's Prevention Partnership of Connecticut, Ohio Commission on Conflict and Dispute Resolution, and Kentucky Center for School Safety signed on, as well.

The campaign is also facilitating interagency collaboration among violence prevention programs and agencies throughout the country. Prevention specialists from the Empower Program, Non-Violence Project, BiasHelp of Long Island, and PAX Real Solutions To Gun Violence are connecting through the campaign. Community-based activists are mobilizing local action with the help of MADDADS of Jacksonville and the Institute for Community Peace. Large coalitions, such as the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) and the Stop Bullying Now! Campaign, are sharing information through their network of member groups. National leadership is also coming from organizations such as the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, National School Safety Center, National Dropout Prevention Center, and the Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP) of the American Friends Service Committee.

By facilitating a dialogue among the country's top violence prevention advocates, the National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign is creating a national roundtable to address this important issue. It is also modeling an approach that will be replicated on a local level. On April 7th, participating schools will be hosting in-school violence prevention conferences during which they will be initiating community roundtables to develop action plans for reducing violence throughout the year. Like the national roundtable, these roundtables will be engaging voices and visions from all sectors of each community.

All those involved in the campaign will have the opportunity to connect through the campaign website, www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org. Serving as the crossroads to the campaign, the site features links to all of the sponsors' websites, message boards for networking, e-cards to share activity ideas, and a media kit to promote the event. It also provides everything needed to prepare for the event, including the official campaign Action Kit that serves as a step-by-step planning guide, suggestions for how each sector of the community can support the campaign, and the campaign newsletter to keep updated on campaign events around the country.

Another resource is the 24-page campaign brochure which features even more activity ideas, as well as engaging educational videos, curricula, games and activity books that can be used to teach violence prevention during the event and throughout the year. The brochure also offers t-shirts, ribbons, bookmarks, pencils, and other celebration items to inspire participants and reinforce the concepts promoted through the campaign. To request a free copy of the National Youth Violence Prevention Week Brochure write to Guidance Channel.com, PO Box 9120, Plainview, NY 11803-9020, call 1-800-99-YOUTH or visit the campaign website, www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org

Campaign Founders Background

About GuidanceChannel.com

GuidanceChannel.com is an online portal that offers insightful articles, thought-provoking interviews, tips website reviews, and other content that addresses the social, emotional, and educational issues facing today's youth.

School Specialty is an education company that provides innovative and proprietary products, programs, and services to help educators engage and inspire students of all ages and abilities. Through leading brands, School Specialty designs, develops, and provides PreK-12 educators with the latest and very best curriculum, supplemental learning resources, and classroom basics. Working in collaboration with educators, School Specialty reaches beyond the scope of textbooks to help teachers, guidance counselors, and school administrators ensure that every student reaches his or her full potential. For more information about School Specialty and each of their brands, visit www.schoolspecialty.com.

About National SAVE

The National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) is a national nonprofit organization that assists students in starting and operating SAVE chapters across the country. The mission of SAVE is to promote the meaningful involvement of students in providing safer environments for learning. SAVE strives to decrease the potential for violence in our schools and communities by connecting students to safety efforts. The key to SAVE is that it is student initiated-started by students for students. Started in 1989 by a group of students after a violent incident that left one of their classmates dead, SAVE has spread from coast to coast with 1590 chapters in 44 states involving over 174,000 students. ###

Plainview, NY -- During the week of March 29th through April 2nd, people from all over the country will unite in a unique educational and awareness event focusing on effective ways to prevent and reduce youth violence. Students, educators, counselors, law enforcement officers, social workers, service organizations, faith-based groups, parents, and the public will participate in various activities to demonstrate the positive role young people can have in making their schools and communities safer.

With the support of several national premier youth-serving organizations, each day of the week will focus on a specific violence prevention strategy. These include promoting respect and tolerance, anger management, resolving conflicts peacefully, supporting safety, and uniting in action. "Strategy Sponsors," including Teaching Tolerance, American School Counselor Association, Association For Conflict Resolution, National Youth Court Center, and Youth Service America, will offer activities, information, and spokespersons to support each day's focus through the campaign website, www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org.

The campaign is also striving to unite communities in their efforts to address youth violence by encouraging participating schools to host in-school violence prevention conferences on the campaign's "Unite In Action Day" scheduled for Friday, April 2nd. In addition to offering workshops on various prevention strategies and recognizing local efforts by those who are effectively working to reduce youth violence, these conferences are intended to provide an opportunity to establish local community roundtables that will develop action plans to reduce youth violence throughout the year.

To further encourage community-wide participation in the event, campaign founders National S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere) and The Guidance Channel, have recruited a number "Sector Sponsors" who will bring their unique expertise to the campaign. These groups are providing leadership to various community sectors, such as social service agencies, service organizations, and the media. The growing list of Sector Sponsors include the National Association Of Student Councils, National Education Association's Health Information Network, National Association Of Social Workers, National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers, Join Together, United Religions Initiative, and YouthNOISE.

The award-winning campaign website at www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org, serves as the crossroads for all those involved in the event. There you'll find links to all of the sponsors' websites, message boards for networking, e-cards to promote the event, and contact information for spokespersons. The site also provides everything needed to prepare for the event, including the official campaign Action Kit that serves as a step-by-step planning guide, suggestions for how each sector of the community can support the campaign, and access to the campaign newsletter to keep updated on campaign events around the country.

Another resource is the 16-page campaign brochure which features even more activity ideas, as well as engaging educational games and activity books that can be used to teach violence prevention during the event and throughout the year. The brochure also offers t-shirts, ribbons, bookmarks, pencils, and other celebration items to inspire participants and reinforce the concepts promoted through the campaign. To request a free copy of the National Youth Violence Prevention Week Brochure write to The Guidance Channel, 135 Dupont Street, PO Box 760, Plainview, NY 11803-0760, call 1-800-99-YOUTH or visit the campaign website, www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org.

Plainview, NY - The Guidance Channel and National S.A.V.E. announces the success of the inaugural National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign held April 7-l1 this year across America. Organized and sponsored by seven nationally recognized youth advocate organizations, the campaign focused on prevention education and in-service activities with hundreds of thousands of children, teens, parents, teachers, and other caregivers participating.

Launched by National S.A.V.E. and The Guidance Channel, each day of the week was sponsored by a different organization and focused on a specific violence prevention strategy. The sponsors, including the Constitutional Rights Foundation-Chicago, American School Counselor Association, Association for Conflict Resolution, National Association of School Resource Officers, and Youth Service America, designed and initiated activities for students K-12 that focused on their day's strategy. Through the efforts and leadership of the sponsors and thousands of students across the country learned skills to promote respect and tolerance, manage anger, resolve conflicts peacefully, support safety, and unite in action.

The campaign inspired a variety of initiatives across the nation that demonstrated the positive steps young people can take to address violence in our schools and communities. Some of the activities included a school in New Mexico writing and performing a play on making safe choices, a group of youth rehab centers in Florida coordinating essay and poster contests to raise awareness on violence prevention strategies, and a volunteer youth council in Nevada establishing a play room in a local domestic violence shelter.

Plans are already under way for next year's event scheduled for March 29th through April 2nd, 2004. For more information on how to get involved in this nationwide effort to show that our youth and communities are committed to being violence-free, request a free National Youth Violence Prevention Week Brochure by writing to The Guidance Channel, 135 Dupont Street, PO Box 760, Plainview, NY 11803-0760, calling 1-800-99-YOUTH, or visiting the official campaign website at www.ViolencePreventionWeek.org.

Together we can build safer communities, peace by peace!