Many NYC teens view police officers, judges, and the law enforcement community in general as adversaries. Students participating in TASC’s Community Justice Program (CJP) examine their often tense relationship with law enforcement and become youth leaders by organizing advocacy projects.
Through CJP, students hone their critical thinking skills by learning how to question and make sense of the legal system. They also become "change-agents" by working together to analyze real problems in their schools and communities and develop effective solutions. At one middle school site, for example, CJP students organized a Peer Mediation group, through which older students mediate conflicts that arise among younger students in order to prevent physical altercations. Adult staff members at this school site report a dramatic decrease in fighting among students.
For the middle and high school students who participate, CJP orchestrates positive social interactions with N.Y.P.D. youth officers, local judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and other adults working in the field. These law enforcement professionals visit program participants at their schools and describe their work, including the roles they fill in the greater legal system. They encourage students to share stories and ask tough questions about their previous experiences with law enforcement. Students also observe these adults at work during field trips to police precincts, courthouses, youth courts and prosecutor’s offices.
To counteract the resentment and anxiety many students feel toward the legal system, CJP encourages participants to advocate for their peers and improve their communities by planning "Leadership Activities" such as the Peer Mediation group. Kids who participated in CJP during the 2006-07 school year designed a youth court, organized a student council, planned school and neighborhood improvement projects, and performed community service. In addition to building students’ confidence and teamwork skills, these projects help empower them to become positive forces in their communities.
Some CJP sites also offer a traditional site-based mentoring program in which an individual student is matched with a judge, lawyer, law student, paralegal, or court clerk.
This project is funded by a grant from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation.
