William, I think APII did a great job with their pr work. I'm also impressed with the many young adults out there making a difference. They should not be underestimated.
Wednesday October 11, 8:29 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Prudential
Kids Across America Are Helping to Combat Crime; October is Crime Prevention Month
NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Taryn Pream knows about crime. When she was 15, the Minnesota high school student was shocked to receive a terribly offensive e-mail note from an anonymous source. Over the next three weeks, it was followed by a series of increasingly frightening messages, both threatening and pornographic. Taryn became so upset that her grades began to fall, and she began to obsess about locking windows and doors.
After one of her classmates was apprehended for the crime, Taryn vowed to help others avoid similar experiences. So she created a brochure on Internet safety called ``Shut the Door,'' raised money to print it, and distributed copies throughout her community. She also sent the brochure to every law enforcement center and school district in Minnesota, and began speaking at schools across three states on how to protect yourself on the Internet. Since then, requests have come in from all over the United States and even overseas, and nearly 80,000 copies of Taryn's brochure have been distributed.
As Americans observe Crime Prevention Month this October, thousands of other young people like Taryn are working in a wide variety of ways to make their communities safer by fighting crime. They know that, while teen-agers usually get more attention for committing crimes than for preventing them, they have the power to make a discernible impact on the nation's crime rates.
Danielle Shimotakahara, 13, of North Bend, Ore., is exercising that power by waging a high-profile campaign in her town to remove coin-operated video games from public places where children congregate. Danielle felt that violent video games at pizza parlors, bowling alleys, skating rinks and other youth-oriented businesses were an extremely bad influence on impressionable young children, and on the day of the Columbine High School massacre, she decided that something should be done about them.
``Kids as young as 3 years old can use mounted guns to shoot people to pieces and watch blood splatter on the screen,'' Danielle said. ``Kids get points for killing people. I think it teaches them bad things.'' Danielle researched the effects of violence on children, circulated a petition, sent letters to local newspapers and gave many presentations explaining why she thought video games were harmful to kids. Danielle collected thousands of signatures from both children and adults, including 29 state senators, and persuaded the Coos Bay City Council and a major church group to pass resolutions supporting her cause. She also was asked to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing on the effects of violent video games on children.
In Mountain City, Tennessee, 13-year old Kevin Cable knows many classmates who have access to guns and ammunition in their homes, and he's heard some of them talk of how they sometimes play with the firearms when their parents are not home. Kevin, outraged how anyone would consider a gun a toy, decided to initiate a letter-writing campaign to governors across the country to encourage them to proclaim a special Weapons Awareness Day. Two years ago, Kevin convinced the governor of Tennessee to name June 15 Weapons Awareness Day, and to encourage parents across the state to count and lock up their firearms. Kevin then sent letters to every governor in the country asking them to do the same, and he is continuing to urge other states to make weapons control a priority.
``Young people need to stop turning our heads or just laughing when our friends talk about playing with their parents' guns,'' said Kevin.
Awards Program Recognizes Young Volunteers For Good Works
Kevin, Danielle, and Taryn are just three of thousands of young people across America who are making a difference in their communities by lending their hands to important causes, like crime prevention. They each were recently recognized in The 2000 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards as among the nation's top youth volunteers.
Applications for The 2001 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards are now available for other young people who are volunteering in their communities. For applications, call 1-888-450-9961. Applications must be completed and submitted to school principals by October 31, 2000.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, created in 1995 by Prudential in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, is the nation's largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. Since its inception, the program has honored more than 25,000 young Americans at the local, state and national level, and is now operating in Japan, Korea and Taiwan as well.
Each fall, the program names thousands of local honorees in communities across the U.S., based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth. The top two in each state are then awarded $1,000 grants, silver medallions and a trip to Washington, D.C., for several days of national recognition events. In Washington, ten are named America's top youth volunteers of the year, and receive an additional $5,000, a gold medallion and a crystal trophy.
SOURCE: Prudential
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