Do the Write Thing Challenge is a unique program designed to give middle school students an outlet to communicate in classroom discussions and then in writing how violence impacts their daily lives. In addition to exposing the causes and impact of violence, students are asked to identify what they will do to address these problems. By emphasizing personal responsibility, the Challenge seeks to empower young people to reduce violence in their homes, schools and neighborhoods.
There are 39,749 students enrolled in 33 Palm Beach County School District public middle schools, of which 30 middle schools accepted the Do the Write Thing Challenge. 25,167 essays were submitted, addressing three questions in written form:
- default_titleHow has youth violence affected my life?
- default_titleWhat are the causes of youth violence?
- default_titleWhat can I do to reduce youth violence?
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One young man and young woman, who were the first place girl and boy winners, served as Ambassadors from Palm Beach County in the national recognition ceremony in Washington, DC in the summer of 2014. They joined other Do the Write Thing Ambassadors from across the country and met with national leaders to address the problems of youth violence.
The Do the Write Thing Challenge winners for the 2013-2014 school year were from Crestwood Middle School and Don Estridge High Tech Middle School.
Palm Beach County Girl Ambassador, Kennedy Thomas
8th Grade, Crestwood Middle School
"We as Americans are 'Trigger Happy.' However, guns are probably the most violent things, we as humans can purchase, because let's be honest, who uses a gun for anything other than killing."
-- Kennedy Thomas
6th Grade, Don Estridge Middle School
"I wonder if the killer would have made a different choice if he had pictured my family crying over Richard at his funeral. Would it have made him more sympathetic knowing how many people’s lives he was destroying? Maybe he would have a different perspective if he knew that over 11 years later we still think about Richard every day."
-- Michael Lesh
The School District of Palm Beach County has participated in the Do the Write Thing Challenge for the past 11 years due to the support of The Law Firm of Larmoyeux & Bone. Bill Bone is the chairman of the local Palm Beach County steering committee.
All of the entries were read by multiple panels of volunteer judges. The judges represented a cross section of Palm Beach County educators, parents, law enforcement officers and judicial leaders who are committed to solving the problem of violence in the community.
In an effort to honor stylistic decisions and in recognition of the fact that the Challenge is more about finding solutions for the problem of youth violence, than it is about the “skill” of writing, the submissions were not edited for grammar, spelling and structure. Students were judged on the content of their work and their response to the three questions.
Complete information about the national program is available online at www.dtwt.org and the local program at www.dothewritethingpalmbeach.com.