We are a group of eighth graders at the Ridge Ave Upper Campus school in the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD), who are aiming to institution criminal justice education into our school's systems curriculum. Our main priority is to raise awareness and further the education relation to the youth criminal justice system. After thorough research about youth in our countries justice system, we've found appalling statistics about not only the amount of youth entering the criminal justice system, but also the damages it does to our youth's future and the massive impact it has on a kids life after being released. We know that the best way to avoid something is to know how to avoid it in the first place, and education is best the key to knowledge. As all of us being students who have gone through CPSD's school system, we've never learned anything relating to our youth criminal justice system. Just because we are eighth graders and we're not experts on the criminal justice system doesn't mean we can't make a change though! We want to bring in outside cooperation's and aim to build bridges with a youth justice education program and our public district so they can provide us with advocates from their organization to come help teach our districts sixth graders. We want your help in raising awareness about this solution so that we can take it from prototype to program.

Here are some surprising statistics relating to our cause:

"As many as two thirds of youth who leave the juvenile justice system drop out of school."(Juvenile Law Center).

"An estimated 3-10.8% of foster care alumni attain a bachelor’s degree by age 21, compared to the national rate of 32.5%"(Juvenile Law Center).

"Available research shows that only 2% of youth held at juvenile facilities for 90+ days were accepted to college"(Juvenile Law Center).

“The brain's structure and function undergo considerable changes during adolescence. Adolescents are more vulnerable to irrational decision-making caused by impulsivity and reward or sensation-seeking behavior due to their psychosocial immaturity"(Coalition for Juvenile Justice).

"Only 65% of foster youth complete high school by age 21"(Juvenile Law Center).

“Early intervention prevents the onset of delinquent behavior and supports the development of a youth’s assets and resilience. It also decreases rates of  recidivism* by a significant 16 percent when youth do go on to engage with the justice system” (Youth.gov).

*Recidivism - The action of re-committing a crime after being released from incarceration.

For more information, check out our website dedicated to this cause:

https://sites.google.com/cpsd.us/juvenilejusticeeducation/home

Thank for your time, and we hope that you stand with us in the fight for Juvenile Justice Education!

Sincerely, J. Adiletta, M.Y. Findely, J. Nohrnberg, & E. Sheldon.