Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice

by Allan Creighton, Paul Kivel

Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice is a guide for adults who work with young people ages ten and up on issues related to youth leadership and social justice. It is also a training manual for adults who want to become effective allies to young people and develop the skills needed so that they can facilitate community building among youth. Adults are encouraged to see young people not as a problem but the key to the solution. The authors have decades of experience in youth education and social justice activism and provide a clear theoretical framework for their approach to social justice education. On the practical level, workshop guidelines and outlines are included for facilitating discussion and sharing around sensitive topics of oppression, the "isms" — racism, sexism, adultism — as well as gender issues, immigration, religion, ability and access. This program presents a positive framework that draws out the experience, strength, and idealism of young people while speaking to the issues they care about today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Teaching

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Emily O]

As a future teacher with an interest in social justice, I got this book in the hopes of finding methods and exercises that I could use in my classroom to encourage social justice and youth activism among my students. This book had a lot of classroom exercises, but they were almost all variations on the same activity, focusing on making students aware of various kinds of privilege. While this is a very important goal (most adults I know still don't understand the concept I would have liked to see other things as well. I was really looking for advice on how to work social justice into the existing subject areas, while this focused on activities that would be better suited to an after-school program or dedicated class. I would have also liked practical advice on how to get kids active in social change, rather than just making them aware of prejudices. In short, this book is a great too for explaining privilege to both students and adults, but it is only a starting point when it comes to social justice activism.

Rating: I would recommend this book, but only as one part of a larger social-justice library.

Amazon Description:
Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice is a guide for adults who work with young people ages ten and up on issues related to youth leadership and social justice. It is also a training manual for adults who want to become effective allies to young people and develop the skills needed so that they can facilitate community building among youth. Adults are encouraged to see young people not as a problem but the key to the solution. The authors have decades of experience in youth education and social justice activism and provide a clear theoretical framework for their approach to social justice education. On the practical level, workshop guidelines and outlines are included for facilitating discussion and sharing around sensitive topics of oppression, the "isms" — racism, sexism, adultism — as well as gender issues, immigration, religion, ability and access. This program presents a positive framework that draws out the experience, strength, and idealism of young people while speaking to the issues they care about today.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Debbie Heaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing book outlines a model to highlight resistance and alliance as the principal tools for the liberation of young people. It dictates that youth need practical skills and that the best strategy for young people is solidarity with each other and with adults to achieve dignity, love, and a sense of power with purpose. It is a step-by-step program filled with hope not pessimism, to create an educational model for a better world future.

The authors have laid out an incredible guide for all adults working to help young people become active community members. As a professional who works with children and families, this is a book that will remain on my bookshelf and used often in my day to day dealing with teens.