Project Description

      The Violence Prevention Among Rural Middle School Students Study is a three-year, federally funded research grant being conducted by Randy Swaim, Ph.D. and  Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D.  This project will create, within each of three communities, violence prevention teams.  Each team will consist of high school juniors and key adults from schools, the media and health professions.  They will customize and implement a year-long media campaign and will serve as role models to middle school students within their own communities.  By their actions, they will convey to younger students that choosing a non-violent lifestyle is a good choice available to them.  At the end of the project, each community will yield a group of citizens that is concerned about violence prevention, and is aware of how the media can assist in combating violent behavior.  The ultimate goal of the project is to assist communities in developing programs aimed at reducing violence among youth.

The Media Campaign
The media campaign will utilize a broad range of mediums including:  radio spots, TV spots, print PSAs (public service announcements), news articles and press releases, posters and promotional items.  Each community team will also host a variety of school and community activities and events such as dances and presentations.  With local youth involved in the development and implementation of the campaigns, communities should increase the willingness of local media, schools and agencies to participate in and support the youth's efforts.  The campaign should be a powerful stimulus for promoting community action against violence by youth.

The Institute
During the summers of 2001 and 2002, Media Communications Institutes for Violence Prevention were held to train the teen teams with the skills they need to implement a localized media campaign.  The goals of the Institute were to train teen teams 1) to interpret media messages and how to work with the media, 2) how to be a role model to middle school youth, and 3) to understand, practice, and model violence prevention skills.

This study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse