Communities Can Prevent Violence Before It Starts

August 31, 2010 -- Youth violence directly affects how young people and the communities in which they live are able to thrive. Young people cannot learn and succeed in life if they are afraid to go to school or work because of the threat of violence, and violence in turn increases health care costs, decreases property values, disrupts social services, and threatens the success of businesses. 

Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE), a national initiative coordinated by the National Center for Injury Prevention at CDC, takes a public health approach toward preventing youth violence before it starts by identifying populations and locations at greatest risk, uncovering risk and protective factors, and developing and using evidence-based strategies and programs to address violence at the individual, family, community, and societal levels.

A main component of STRYVE’s approach is a website offering an up-to-date set of tools to plan, carry out, and evaluate sustainable youth violence prevention strategies that are based upon the best available evidence.

Schools and communities can use STRYVE’s new website to:

• Learn what youth violence is and how to prevent it before it starts.
• Access the information, tools, and workspaces needed to strategically plan, implement, and evaluate youth violence prevention efforts.
• Establish a customized workspace where community partners can work together to prevent youth violence.
• Network with other communities to share successes and learn what is working in other communities to stop youth violence before it starts.

Three main sections of the site, “Training,” “Resources,” and “Take Action” can help educators and policymaker keep kids safe, in school, and ready to learn.