The following
selected policy recommendations were developed by the 2002 McGruff Ambassadors
utilizing a consensus model and collaborative group-decision technology donated
by Teen Think Tanks of America, Inc.
These recommendations address policy designed to prevent crime,
violence, and substance abuse among youth.
1.
Elected officials in federal, state, and local agencies will develop
training initiatives to support positive interaction between law enforcement
and youth.
2. Federal, state, and
local agencies will develop and provide resources to implement school security
and safety programs that are established around a network of trust developed
among youth, policy makers, law enforcement officials, business professionals,
faith-based communities, and other adults.
3. Federal, state, and
local agencies will fund youth programs and extracurricular activities that
create a positive environment for youth to grow and develop, enabling them to
evolve into well adjusted law abiding citizens.
4. The federal
government will create stronger restrictions for producers and distributors of
entertainment containing explicit lyrics, violent ideas, and derogatory
language. This prevents impressionable minds from having their judgment
obscured by these unpleasant depictions of life.
5. Federal, state, and
local agencies will provide resources to develop new and support existing
community action programs that encourage youth and adult collaborations.
6. Federal, state, and
local government will develop public awareness programs that encourage
community activism at the grass roots level.
These programs will promote activism as a way of life.
7. To prevent identity
crime on the Internet, federal, state, and local governments will establish
strict policies to eliminate the opportunities for people to create an
alternate persona. These policies will be congruent in each of the states.
8. Federal, state, and
local government will establish appropriate regulations such as parental
controls and website ratings that govern Internet providers.
9. Federal and state
agencies will provide Public Service Announcements and media programs that are
direct and informative to youth and result in increased awareness of the dangers
of abusing illegal substances.
10. Local agencies will
reward and recognize youth for peer-to-peer education on the dangers of
substance abuse.
11. Congress will expand
the scope of the National Youth Service Day to provide more opportunities to
recognize youth who are sending positive messages throughout their schools,
communities, and states. This day will shift the perception of youth as
perpetrators of crime to the reality that youth are a positive force for crime
prevention.
12. All schools in the
United States of America and its Territories will teach media literacy at all
grade levels. This will enable youth to
understand and deconstruct media messages.
13. Federal, state, and
local agencies in association with local schools will create opportunities to educate
youth in the processes of developing public policy and laws by creating service
programs that allow youth to work on political campaigns, participate in
government meetings, and serve on boards as decision makers or process
observers.
14. Federal, state, and
local legislative offices will implement the use of designated staff members to
serve as youth-to-adult liaisons working directly with the youth constituency
under their jurisdiction. Liaisons will work directly with youth and organized
teen policy advisory boards to provide recommendations and input for
youth-related public policies.
15. Legislatures in each
state will provide contact information specific to their state, county, and/or
city jurisdictions that will serve as resources in schools and libraries for
youth.
16.
Federal, state, and local legislators will establish mentor programs in
their individual jurisdictions to develop relationships between professional
policy makers and students.