my abstract for a grant writing to implement Violence Prevention and Social Skills curriculum

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This project will implement a violence prevention and social skills curriculum, it will be a multi-resource, non-profit effort to create a safe community while teaching youth valuable skills, rehabilitate existing trauma damage, build self esteem, and conflict resolution, and create community leaders within the Oakland Unified School District.  

While most youth learn social skills through their everyday interactions with parents and family, it is also very important that educators, adults and peers reinforce the learning. It is important that we recognize that not all children are taught proper behaviors like interpersonal skills and conflict resolution. These behaviors play a major part in building a positive core within a person. Oakland is notoriously known for sky rocketing murder rates, senseless killings, ignorance and a city filled with range. By providing children with a curriculum that focuses at a very young age discussing morally correct skills and violence free relations we can put a stop to the vicious cycle that continues to circulate in Oakland. While there are many root cause of violence in Oakland like media, lack of positive role models, poverty, easy access to guns drugs and alcohol as well as fear we must first address these issues by building recognition to the negative. By making a curriculum like this mandatory youth will learn practice positive behavior, they will reach academic success and there will be school and community wide safety.

Implementing this proposal benefits the county as a whole by promoting positive relations, reducing the amount of violence and increasing educational futures. This means that the county will save money that is being spent on medical trauma care and imprisonment costs. With a curriculum that takes the child from k-12 students will grow to be great communicators, their ability to make socially conscious choices will be strengthened their relations which leads to a positive life and community.

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