Lock ‘Em Up

Teen Criminals in New York City

Ms. Kirtley

Lehman High School

Introduction: In Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon is on trial for murder and must face the stereotypes placed on young black teens. Trying to transcend the label of “monster” and show the jury and his own attorney the truth of who he really is, Steve decides to write a screenplay of his experience. Beyond the murder charges, you could argue that Steve is also on trial for associating with “thugs,” for hanging out with the wrong crowd. Although this may or may not be true, many believe that the media encourages teens to live the thug life and to follow the example of criminals to gain recognition and respect on the streets. Why is the “thug life” appealing? No one wants to spend their life in jail, but does the glorification of the path to thugdom outweigh the destination?

You have learned of Steve Harmon’s trial and want to help him by “pitching” his story to Miramax Films in hopes of having his movie produced. The studio executives agree to produce the movie, but want you to rework the script into more of a morality or cautionary tale. In this new version, Steve is found guilty at the end and is sentenced to life in jail. You will create a presentation on a trifold board to show the executives how this new version can be more of a cautionary tale by visually displaying the appeal of the thug life, how Steve became involved with the “wrong crowd” and the results of his choices. By using the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) method you will also write one page describing a policy that you think could have prevented Steve’s downward slide which will be included at the end of the movie.

Task:

In groups of 3-4, you will:

ü Create a trifold board presentation of your movie version of Monster that will be given to studio executives at Miramax with the following components:

Left side – a description of the main characters, your ideal casting of the main roles (include pictures, if possible), a visual rendering of Steve’s life

Middle – show what is appealing about a “thug’s life” by including pictures of what it seems to promise (bling, bling, cars, etc.) and how a thug acts, here you might also include reference to Steve’s crime

Right side – show what happens to a thug in the end (jail, death, etc)

ü Select a social problem about youth and crime or the criminal justice system that you will focus on for your one page policy proposal (afterward for the movie)

ü Use the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) method to investigate the social problem by gathering evidence of the problem, identifying the causes of the problem, and evaluating current NYC policies relating to that problem

ü Develop your own policy solution to solve the social problem

ü Produce a one page policy proposal describing a way in which you think Steve’s life could have been changed.

Process:

You will be following the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) method of examining a social problem. You will be working in groups of 3-4 students. For each step, you will need to complete the corresponding online worksheet. Group members should take turns being the recorder for the group and writing things down. If you need help understanding one of the steps, follow the link under “more information” for that step.

Define the social problem—choose one of the 3 social problems or create your own based on Monster (ask Ms. Kirtley first):

Ø There is a high recidivism rate (rate of people returning to jail) for young people who have been in prison.

Ø The criminal justice system discriminates against young people from certain socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

Ø Many teens are involved in violent crime.

Fill out the worksheet located at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.doc and put it in your process journal.

More Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html

2. Gather evidence— Find out facts about the causes and effects of your social problem. I have provided some websites below under “Resources,” but your group should also do some internet investigating on its own. Remember to think critically about the source of your information and whether it is reliable. For example, www.gangsaregreat.com [not a real website] might be a bad place to look up information about the negative effects of gangs on teenagers-- but on the other hand, it might be a great place to find out how gangs use peer pressure to intimidate teens.

Take notes on the evidence you gather and where you find it (make sure to correctly cite websites!) in your process journal. Fill out the worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.doc.

More Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/gather.html

How to conduct a search on the internet:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/search.html

3. Identify causes—Based on your evidence, what actually causes this social problem? Remember, there may be more than one cause.

Fill out the worksheet at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.doc and file it in your process journal.

More information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/identify.html

4. Evaluate a policy—Find out what NYC is currently doing to stop or fix the social problem. Read about the policies that already exist and then decide what the good points and bad points of these policies are. Record notes in your process journal.

Fill out the worksheet at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.doc

More information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/existing.html

5. Develop solutions—Be creative problem-solvers! Your group is going to brainstorm various possible policy solutions for your social problem. You must consider both effectiveness (whether the policy will work) and feasibility (whether the policy can actually be implemented in the real world). Be open to many different ideas. Record your brainstorming on the worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.doc

More Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutions.html

6. Select the best solution—As a group, work together to chose what you think would be the best policy solution for your social problem, based on your research. You will use this one page policy solution as an ending to the Monster movie as a way of making the audience aware of how things can be changed for the better. Make sure that your policy is a real plan of action, not just a policy goal. (For example, don’t just say “reduce juvenile crime.” Tell me how you’re going to do it!)

Use the worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.doc

to evaluate how feasible and effective each of your policy solutions is and help you choose which one is best.

More information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/bestsol.html

Resources: For general web searches:

www.google.com

www.ask.com

http://bubl.ac.uk/link/

www.metacrawler.com

www.altavista.com

Specific sites that may help you:

(Many of these are valuable because they have links to other useful sites)

Statistics and Factual Information on Juvenile Crime for step #2:

US Department of Justice Youth Violence site

www.usdoj.gov/youthviolence.htm

National Criminal Justice Reference Service

http://virlib.ncjrs.org/JuvenileJustice.asp

Statistics reference page for the PBS documentary:

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats

New York City Department of Juvenile Justice

http://home.nyc.gov/html/djj/

Justice Statistics

http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/

Corrections Statistics

http://www.ncvc.org/resources/statistics/corrections/

Resources about Policies and Programs Currently in Place for steps #2 & 4:

VERA Institute for Justice

http://www.vera.org/section5/section5_1.asp

Partnerships Against Violence Network

http://www.pavnet.org/ (look at the Programs section)

Health and Justice for Youth Project

http://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/juv_justice/newyork_b.html

Harlem Intervention Project

http://www.nycourts.gov/press/pr2002_08.shtml

Office of Juvenile Justice:

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/programs/programs.html

Justice for Kids and Youth

http://www.usdoj.gov/kidspage/getinvolved/index.html

Interesting News and Opinion Articles, most useful for steps #3 & 4:

http://www.nynewsday.com/features/printedition/queenslife/ny-riker3388493jul27,0,5490314.story?coll=ny-queenslife-print

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/children/2001/oped/melone.asp

http://www.youthnoise.com/site/CDA/CDA_Page/0,1004,751,00.html

http://student-voices.org/news/index.php3?NewsID=2782

Youth, Race, and Crime in the News Report

http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/media/media.html

A cool PBS documentary about youths and criminal justice

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile

Links to sites about gun violence, juvenile justice, gangs, etc.

www.child.net/violence.htm

Information about how to handle other sources:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/info.html

Evaluation:

RUBRICS: Trifold Presentation

A B C-D

Collaboration	There is strong evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is some evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is little or no evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment
Visual Piece	Trifold board is appealing; images and themes represent the social issue being discussed	Trifold Board captures the social issue and themes but is not as relevant	Trifold Board does not capture the social issue or the themes of the assignment

RUBRICS: Policy Proposal

	A	B	C-D
Content	Writing shows in-analysis of a “Thug’s Life” and offers insightful proposals according to the Public Policy Analysis methodology.	Writing shows basic understanding and analysis of a “Thug’s Life” and offers adequate solutions. It briefly addresses each of the steps of the PPA.	Writing shows summarization of the research information. It may contain vague references to the steps of Public Policy Analysis.
Structure and Organization	Writing is generally well organized according to definite plans. Topics or ideas generally clear. Typically clear beginnings and ends. Most transitions smooth and logical. Details generally varied and vivid.	Controlling topics, ideas, or overall plans always present but do not always focus the writing. Endings may sometimes be awkward or abrupt. Transitions are typically logical but may on occasion lack depth and/or direct relevance.	Topics or overall plans may not be clearly present. Possible digressions or elaborations confusing to reader. Beginnings and endings may be awkward or abrupt. Key elements may be unevenly developed or omitted. Details used inconsistently.
Style	Sound reasoning. Clear position. Opinions thoughtfully supported. Credible evidence. Avoids exaggeration. Compelling arguments. Fact/opinion distinguished. Conclusions well-grounded. Displays evidence to advantage. Believable and defensible. Convincing.	Few surprises. Predictable, well-worn arguments. Credible but limited support. Acceptable, knowledge as evidence. Fact/opinion sometimes overlap.	Minimal content. Unsupported statements. Weak, questionable evidence. Position weak/unclear/shifting. Overly reliant on repetition and exaggeration.

Reading

a	Read twenty-five books of the quality and complexity illustrated in the sample reading list.
c	Read and comprehend informational materials.

Writing

a	Produce a report of information.
e	Produce a persuasive essay.

Speaking, Listening, and Viewing

a	Participate in one-to-one conferences with the teacher.
b	Participate in group meetings.
c	Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language

a	Independently and habitually demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.
b	Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

Public Documents

a	Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
b	Produce public documents.

Functional Documents

a	Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.
b	Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.

Information Tools and Techniques

a	Gather information to assist in completing project work.
b	Use on-line sources to exchange information for specific purposes.
c	Use word-processing software to produce a multi-page document.
d	Write, add content to, and analyze a relational data base.

Tools and Techniques for Working With Others

a	Participate in the establishment and operation of self-directed work teams.

Conclusion:

Congratulations! Upon your successful completion of this web quest, you have researched and analyzed the social problem of teen criminals using the TIPS Public Policy Analyst guidelines. Through this web quest, you analyzed the causes and effects of crime and the appeal of the thug life on teenagers. Your group reviewed current public policy solutions to teenage crime, while creating your own new solutions for preventing other teens from following the same path.

Hopefully, you all developed some creative solutions to prevent teenage crime. Perhaps your solutions would also help save teenagers like Steve Harmon in the future.