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Focus
PACT
IO I P E A S
Mediation-Mobile Reaches Teens
Woke Up To School Violence
When VtotMOi Velero» Talk Aboot Violence, E»« Tough TeeM lisW"
Before he b egan his talk to a room
fu ll o f te e n -a g e b o y s , M ic h a e l
H arrington asked three of them to hop
Before hitting the streets each day,
that there were fewer than 100 such
all was the p ublic’s m isun derstan din g
p ro gram s in 1980 - the idea of solv­
o f about what m ediation is an d what
in g p ro b lem s w ithout h an d cu ffs or
fisticuffs is showing a grow ing appeal.
it can do.
Ja c o b s, a lifelong m ediator as the
In E a st C le v e lan d , Ja c o b s , with
eldest of nine siblings, is now launch­
in g this school y e ar’s m issio n - to
expect to double this year. T h e project
C h eri Ja c o b s prays for a way to brin g
began in 1980s as a peace group con­
hope and peace to the young people
cerned with violence around the world.
However, its focus chan ged as the vet­
o f E ast C leveland, Ohio.
With youth violence o f all types on
eran s saw the grow ing wave of youth
the rise, and m ale teen-age hom icide
h er p ro jec t p a rtn er A rtim u s C arte r,
violence in the U nited States.
The
u p 154 p e rce n t betw een 1985 an d
fac e d several o b sta c le s while settin g
m ajor d an ger today to young people
1991, Ja c o b s h as no illusion about the
is right h ere in the streets,” Steven
problem she has taken on.
Two years ago, Ja c o b s, 47, d ecided
u p th eir p ro g ram .
First, there were the logistics. Focus­
about on one leg. H e wanted the boys
to know what the last 25 years have
been like for him. H arrington lost his
right leg in the V ietnam War.
Harrington belongs to the Veterans
E ducation Project. B ased in western
M assachusetts, the project is trying to
do som ething about the epidem ic of
Sossam an , an artillerym an during the
affected th e m . V eteran s E d u catio n
“ el cheapo’ Itasca m odel with a rebuilt
Project m em bers get teen-agers to talk
about the violence in their own lives.
Chevrolet engine.
Ja c o b s is the director o f the Youth
“ We tell our stories in a way the kids
Services M obile M ediation Project in
can related to,” says m em ber G ordon
E ast Cleveland. T h e m obile hom e, her
Fletcher-Howell. “ It o pen s up a d ia­
“baby,” as she calls it, is her arm or in
logue that is am azin g.”
battle, her o asis in a desert.
M ed iatio n is sim ple in concept:
Ja c o b s said . “W ell, I never thought
draw ing conflicting parties together to
ab out bullet-proof vests.”
But perhaps the biggest obstacle o f
o f the veterans group use their m ili­
tary experiences to get through to teen­
agers about alternatives to violence.
T h e V eterans E ducation Project’s
dozen speakers visited m ore than 25
classroom s last year, a n um ber they
- Paul Bush
Teen Courts
A d v o cates say that the grow in g
resolve problem s before they escalate
from civic groups, such as the Ju n io r
tren d in teen c o u rts e ase the burden
on the juvenile ju stice system by light­
en in g the load o f m isdem ean ors and,
L eagu e, or through school district and
m unicipal court budgets.
A n d although statistics are hard to
into w arfare.
A lthough com m unity me­
in som e state s, m inor felonies, that
com e by - partly because of confidenti­
otherw ise w ould go through juven ile
ality laws involving m inors — advocates
to be the m ost im portant fac­
say teen-agers are less likely to becom e
tor in whether a kid com m its a
the teen c o u rts allow y o u n gsters a
repeat offenders and juvenile crime is
crime,” he said after the court
second chance and provide a valuable
education in the legal system.
M ost such courts are funded by a
falling in communities using teen courts.
Silverstein, a Florida attorney who
room o f peer pressure, trying
serves as a volunteer ju d ge, told the
to turn you around.”
com bination of gran ts and local funds
young defendents,”Peer pressure seems
o r fam ily cou rts. At the sam e tim e,
session. “ Here you have a whole
■Nancy Weil
philosophers, professors and historians
school year. T h e N ational Fo­
of M issouri. T h e league is a part o f a
and their students at elite schools. There
rensics L eague, an educational
proliferating n um b er o f debate societ­
are, of course, plenty of arguments on the
o r g a n iz a tio n th a t o v e r se e s
ies aim ed predom inantly at m inority
streets, but now the new urban debating
high school debate societies,
students o f urban high schools. M any
movement is seeking to put the squab­
chooses the topic. T h is year’s
believe com petitive d eb ate can help
bling on academic turf.
T h rough these program s, students
fested neighborhoods. “ Som e people
G a te w a y
-
subject is U.S. foreign policy
Walk for Yt
HUMANITY
toward R ussia, though the de­
ALBERTA
or education and economics - has for
Kimberly Easley
literoetive 1» Creates Slodg Class for
Stadents of PilTereiit Races
race-related con cern s with p eop le o f a
different racial back groun d in a class
and m em bers o f the two facul­
ties team-teach the class.
Dr. Q u m a r e M o re h e a d ,
th p r o j e c t ’ s P in e B lu ff-
b a s e d co -d irecto r, s a id , “ It
h elp s o verco m e the p h y sical
giv e s fo lk s a ch an ce to get
and interact with each other, share in
right on up to each other and
dom inantly white C en tral M ichigan
discussion s, ask questions and partici­
know each oth er an d relate
University with students at the Univer­
p ate in class exercises despite the 900
on d iffe ren t levels.”
sity o f A rk an sas at Pine Bluff, a his
m iles that separate the two cam puses.
ogy to con n ect stu d en ts at h er pre­
PARK
99
9:30 A M
Build a brighter tomorrow at
the 7th annual Walk for
Humanity, a 5 and I mile
pledge walk and io mile
bicycle ride to benefit
17
lo ca l
n o n p ro fit
organizations. Gather pledges
and m eet your friends at
Alberta Park at 9:30 a.m . then walk or
bike past more than 50 sites improved by
Habitat and our community partners. Bring
in »50 and get a hdl-color T-shirt. $250 gets
you a sweatshirt. After the walk, enjoy a free
lunch,
music
provided
by
N extcl
Communications, and a multicultural neighborhood
celebration at the Alberta Street
Fair.
PLEDGE FO R M S A VA ILA B LE A T W A S H IN G T O N M U T U A L BANKS
divide o f diversity, an d it ju st
and faculty from both universities see
that uses interactive television technol­
Com m ons
For Info, or to join a Planning Focus G roups, Call:
Integrated J [J rb a n ^ a b ita tS £ ^ L « P ^ ^ 4 ^ £ 7 3 7 ^
as well as the suburbs. T h e students
other points of view.
V ia interactive television, students
D e s ig n ™
S p r in g W a t e r C o m m o n s
students from other inner-city schools
the class subject and with respect for
by
' P°m Mitchell
An e le v a te d approach to responsible living near Johnson Creek.
Includes 2 & 3 bdrm. Single level & Townhomes.
Priced from under $100,000 (cohousing design also possible)
over war and peace, religion and politics,
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M A Y 1ST
issues for fear of offending som eone.
She found freedom to talk about
an d com m itted to resolvin g c on flicts
in preparation fo r the new millenium
-
the role o f N A T O .
Stu den ts are free to d iscuss what’s on
eration o f ad u lts sp e cifically train ed
C o m m u n itie s
SATU R DAY
discussions on black and white social
year-olds will b eco m e the first gen
said ‘y ou’ll need bullet-proof vests,”
questions such as K osovo and
tive college student, hesitated to get into
enough to be cynical.
H er id e a h ere is that th ese nine-
her m essage o f m ediation to gang-in­
m er that train them to compete with
torically black institution.
G rou n d rules for the class are few.
an d the la n g u a g e , b u t n ot yet o ld
she w ould be hurt, even killed, taking
b a te s have in volved re late d
Bryanna Jo h n so n , a bright, inquisi­
old enough to un derstan d the process
am on g J acobs’ friends and family that
atten d various institutes in the sum ­
ten felt by inner-city youths.
Formal, refereed debate - whether it’s
Fourth grad ers m ake the best me­
diators, Ja c o b s said, b ecause they are
A noth er problem w as fear - fear
an d a d id a s A m e r ic a p r e s e n t :
debate one topic for an entire
channel the an ger and aggression of­
in the techniques of m ediation.
Portland Habitat for Humanity
centuries been the province of aristocrats,
sas City, sp on sored by the U niversity
C levelan d’s 450 to 500 fourth graders
one m iddle and one high school.
Inner-Citg Pebnters Cboaiel Phgsieol
Aggression Info Conflict Resolution
T h e U rban D ebate L eagu e o f K an ­
grad ers to help them train the East
tling between sex elem entary schools,
diation is a relatively new phe­
nom enon - the N B A reports
w ork with the city’s 11th an d 12th
school, and going to school meant shut­
on a different vessel for her faith, a
youth violence in A m erica. M em bers
a corps o f volunteers are p lan n in g to
in g on young people m eant going to
V ietnam war.
By talkin g about how violence has
m obile hom e she describes as a 1977
multiply herself. With C arter, she and
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- Carol Davis
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