• There Is Still Time to Solve Conflicts
• New Titles Added to NJSBF Video Loan Library
• NJSBF Partners With George Street Playhouse to Promote Tolerance Using Drama
• Here's To Your Health

There Is Still Time to Solve Conflicts

The New Jersey State Bar Foundation helps interested educators establish Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programs in their schools by offering free conflict resolution training for teachers in grades K–12. Space is still available in the middle/high school trainings on Oct. 20 & 21 and Nov. 3 & 4, and also in the elementary trainings on Oct. 13 & 14 and Dec. 1 & 2.

The two-day trainings are held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. During the sessions, teachers are trained by other teachers on how to use the curriculum and are also instructed on how to train students to be peer mediators.

Participation in the training sessions is generally limited to 10 schools, each with a team of four people. To register four colleagues from your school for a two-day training, call 1-800 FREE LAW for registration forms.

New Titles Added to NJSBF Video Loan Library

To promote law-related education, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation maintains a free video loan library. With more than 200 titles to choose from, the videos can compliment any curriculum. From videos on drug abuse to programs that bring the issue of domestic violence to the forefront, the titles are diverse and not only for school use. Community organizations often make requests, finding that presenting a law-related video can enhance their programming.

The Foundation has recently acquired more than 25 new titles for its video loan library. The new videos cover the areas of conflict resolution, the Constitution/court system, African-American issues, violence awareness and tolerance issues. In addition, a few programs geared specifically for teachers have been added. Suitable for use at faculty in-service sessions, the videos demonstrate how to promote safer schools and deal with school violence.

Video requests must be made in writing and videos are loaned for a period of two weeks. The Foundation does not charge to borrow these videos, however a $50 refundable security deposit made payable to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, is required for each video. For more information or a complete list of videos you may contact the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, Video Loan Library, One Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1500, call 1-800-FREE LAW or visit the Foundation’s web site at www.njsbf.org.

Descriptions of the Foundation’s latest acquisitions follow:

African-American Issues

Eyes on the Prize (7 videos)—These videos transport the viewer to key events in the history of the civil rights movement from the 1950s to present day. (Approx. 14 hrs. on 7 videos) **The entire series may be loaned with one $100 deposit.**

Conflict Resolution

Anger, Violence and You: Taking Control (grades 7–12)—Probing the reasons people get angry, this video helps students understand this natural emotion. The program examines how violence results when anger is not addressed, and asks a series of questions to help students realize that while they can’t change others, they do have the power to change their own angry behavior. (42 minutes)

Getting Better at Getting Along: Conflict Resolution (grades 2–4)—This video shows kids that when they express themselves clearly and listen carefully, they improve their ability to solve problems, take greater responsibility for themselves, and get better at getting along, in and out of school. (16 minutes)

I Get So Mad (grades K–2)—When young children get angry, their strong feelings can propel them into inappropriate or destructive behavior. This program makes kids aware that anger is a natural emotion everyone experiences at times. Showing them that it’s not the getting angry that counts, but what they decide to do about it, the video offers easy ways to cope. (13 minutes)

Increase the Peace: Conflict Resolution (grades 7–12)—Shot in a city setting with streetwise kids, and using scenarios and language viewers will recognize as straight out of their own lives, this program teaches specific, easy-to-learn skills and effective strategies for conflict resolution. (32 minutes)

Student Workshop: Anger-Management Skills (grades 7–12) This hands-on workshop teaches the anger-management skills that enable teens to get along better with friends, family and authority figures. The program uses an MTV-style format to help students discover the things that trigger their anger and understand the consequences of angry behavior. (40 minutes)

We Can Work It Out: Conflict Resolution (grades K–2)—This program teaches young students age-appropriate strategies for resolving conflicts. The video shows how asking questions, listening, and thinking of ways to do things differently can provide solutions. Using scenarios and a storyteller to emphasize the points made helps viewers get better at getting along. (11 minutes)

Working It Out: Conflict Resolution (grades 5–9) Introducing pre-teens and young teens to conflict resolution, this video shows students how good communication skills and mediation can turn conflict into a positive experience, build self-esteem, and improve relationships. (28 minutes)

Constitution/the Court System

Amendments to the Constitution Series (3 tapes). The following three programs were selected from this acclaimed Cambridge Educational series based on their relevance in the study of criminal justice.

Amendment 2: The Right to Bear Arms—This program discusses the history of the "right to bear arms" Amendment. It details the controversy over the amendment as it relates to current gun control laws. Numerous court cases are cited as experts present both sides of the issue. (5 minutes)

Amendment 4: Unreasonable Search and Seizure—The origins of and historical context of the 4th Amendment are outlined along with a detailed explanation of "probable cause" and search warrant contents and requirements. Present-day situations and court cases are cited to illustrate the main challenge of interpreting the 4th Amendment—how do we find the balance between protecting society from criminal behavior and upholding individual rights to privacy? (7 minutes)

Amendments 5–8: The Justice Amendments—This program thoroughly analyzes the text of Amendments 5, 6, 7, and 8 to provide a complete understanding of the laws that are the foundation of the American criminal justice system. Specific rights outlined in the 5th Amendment that are explained include: the grand jury and indictment process, "double jeopardy," self-incrimination and "the right to remain silent," and due process of law. (15 minutes)

Crime and Punishment— Exploring the evolution of crime and criminal penalties in America, this video examines the influences that create new laws and how our historic attitudes toward crime affects the way we treat criminals today. (2 hrs.)

Just the Facts: U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights (2 videos)—This production combines engrossing insights from Political Science experts with live action and documentary footage to explain and amplify the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. (1 hr. 40 minutes on 2 videos)

For Teachers

Avoiding Conflict: Dispute Resolution Without Violence —This program details ways of stemming the rising tide of aggression in our schools and playgrounds, our streets and homes. It shows ordinary problems that can ignite into violence, and how those problems can be resolved peacefully. (47 minutes)

Sounding the Alarm—This program promotes a proactive approach to fighting school crime, while examining its causes and possible solutions. The contributing roles of dysfunctional families, alcohol, drugs and violence in the media are examined, along with the rise of gangs. Enforcement techniques used to combat gang violence are provided in detail. (23 minutes)

Campus Combat Zone—In this video, Officer Jim Corbin, Director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, explains how weapons affect the quality of education, and what teachers can do to combat the trend. Legal experts explain search and seizure laws within the context of Fourth Amendment rights. Topics covered include school security, the psychology of violence, and how teachers can reinforce positive attitudes that discourage criminal behavior and promote student cooperation. (23 minutes)

Tolerance Issues

Beyond Hate (2-part series)—In these two programs, Bill Moyers attempts to take us beyond hate by exploring its origins and dimensions through the eyes of world leaders, human rights activists, Arabs and Israelis, high school students, youth gangs, and an American white supremacist group.

The Heart of Hatred—This program features conversations with a variety of people who have explored the heart of hatred. A Los Angeles gang member uses hate as a survival weapon. White supremacist leader Tom Metzger defends his policies of hate both in a court of law and in interviews. A former Israeli soldier tells how he disguised himself as a Palestinian to better understand the source of his own hatred, and Myrlie Evers, wife of assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers, talks about her own triumph over hate after her husband’s untimely death. (52 minutes)

Learning to Hate—In this program, Moyers focuses on how children learn to hate, and how attitudes toward hatred differ from culture to culture. A youth of Arab-Israeli descent becomes friends with a young Orthodox Jew at an international training center that teaches youngsters the tools for dialogue and understanding. High school students in Bensonhurst analyze the origins of hatred against gays. In Washington, D.C., a Holocaust survivor teaches children how stereotyping breeds hatred, and how that hatred can lead to persecution. (39 minutes)

Everybody’s Different—(grades K–2) Young children are sometimes uncomfortable with being different. This song-filled video helps them accept and enjoy the diversity around them, depicting the various ways in which people are different: color, shape,size, skills, food, or clothes. Focusing on three areas of diversity: skill levels, ethnic backgrounds, and physical challenges, the program illustrates how young people can deal graciously with unfamiliar diversities. (14 minutes)

No More Teasing—(grades 2–4) This video presents effective strategies that kids can use to protect themselves against teasing or bullying. With the help of the "No More Teasing Team"—peer hosts who introduce common teasing situations and offer solutions—the program shows how students can change their own behavior to lessen the impact of teasing or bullying. (14 minutes)

Whitewash: Building Racial Harmony—(grades 2–6) This moving drama helps raise the subject of racism and hate crimes. Using music, believable dialogue, and interesting animation, this video tells the true story of Helene Angel, who was attacked and had her face spray painted white while walking home in the Bronx in 1992. Traumatized, Helene goes into hiding, but overcomes her fear with the help of her grandmother, teacher and schoolmates. The video shows the power of love, courage, community and friendship to overcome hate, and delivers an inspiring message. (20 minutes)

What’s Hate All About— (grades 7–12) This video helps young people understand the dynamics underpinning this most dangerous of human emotions. Using an MTV-style format, the program examines, through the personal stories of real teens, the many reasons people hate and the stereotypes that hate fosters. The program helps students recognize their own negative feelings toward others, and shows them that they can make a difference. (24 minutes)

Violence Awareness

Brother of Mine: Youth Violence and Society—This compelling documentary looks at why children are becoming more violent at home, school, and on the streets. Interviews with educators, police personnel, psychologists, and the youths themselves—both perpetrators and victims—reveal that violence, accepted as an everyday occurrence, has become a reflection of culture, not a contradiction of it. (50 minutes)

Reading, Writing, and Revolvers: Coping With Teenage Violence—This program provides information to students for coping with violent situations. Students, parents and teachers at urban, suburban, and rural schools provide insights into how they cope with violence on a daily basis. (45 minutes)

Young Criminals, Adult Punishment—An ABC News Nightline episode, this video examines the issue of whether young, violent criminals should be given harsher, adult sentences, including the death penalty. The issue is looked at through the eyes of young criminals, their families and attorneys, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials. (23 minutes)

Youth Violence: What’s Out There—After viewing dramatic re-creations of various tense situations, a studio audience of adolescents discusses each threat, and what might be done to avert it. A host, acting as group facilitator, guides the teens through the discussion toward conclusions that make sense and can save lives. (47 minutes)

NJSBF Partners With George Street Playhouse to Promote Tolerance Using Drama

The New Jersey State Bar Foundation has taken another step in the fight against intolerance by forging a partnership with the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick.

The Foundation will lend its support to bring four plays to students in disadvantaged areas through the George Street Playhouse’s Touring Theatre. The plays address such timely issues as school violence, tolerance, prejudice, self-esteem, peer pressure and gender issues. During the past ten years, the George Street’s Touring Theatre productions have traveled to more than 300 schools a year reaching more than 80,000 students annually.

All the performances are followed by a discussion with the audience facilitated by the actors. Touring actors and George Street program staff will attend the Foundation’s Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation training program to help them advance discussion on the complex issues of school violence and peer relationships.

The Play’s the Thing

The plays are as diverse as their subject matter and cater to different age groups. A description of each play follows:

And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, geared for grades five to 12, is a powerful multi-media play about two surviving friends of Anne Frank—Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg. During the play the two friends recount their experiences via video, while live actors portray them as teenagers in hiding and in concentration camps during World War II. Produced in association with Young Audiences of New Jersey, this play complies with the New Jersey Mandate for Holocaust Education.

New Kid is the story of an immigrant family from a fictitious place called "Homeland." When the family arrives in America, they discover a new culture and unexpected prejudice against "Homelanders." The Homelanders speak English while the Americans speak gibberish, demonstrating the complexities of cross-cultural communication and the implications of prejudice. Through comedy this play, intended for grades K–8, addresses the themes of racism, prejudice, peer pressure, and conveys the need for tolerance.

Peacemaker, meant for young audiences in grades K–5, is the story of the Blue People and the Red People, who have each lived on either side of a "Wall" for many years. Interaction between the people is forbidden, and both communities live in fear, suspicion and mistrust. When Simp, a Red person, sees a Blue person for the first time, the automatic response is panic; once the pair interact, however, they learn they have a lot to offer one another, and an unexpected friendship begins. A parable of our diverse society, the play promotes the themes of tolerance and acceptance and advocates an end to prejudice on the basis of appearance and origin.

In Between, which was performed at the Foundation’s Ninth Annual Law-Related Education Conference in the spring and is geared for grades six to 12, explores issues of self-esteem, social pressure and the correlation between peer disrespect and school violence. The story focuses on a new student, Cue, who finds herself choosing between friendships with the popular Tad and the forgotten Barrett. The play examines the fragile identities and fickle emotions that make decision-making difficult for young people. The use of popular music and youthful dialogue holds the students’ attention, allowing them to absorb the idea that they have options and the courage needed to effect change in their own lives.

The Foundation previously partnered with the George Street Playhouse in the spring to support its Play Day 2000 Symposium called School Violence: How Big Is the Problem? What Can We Do?, which featured anti-violence initiatives including the Foundation’s own Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation program.

Plans for the coming school year include five regional performances and post-show workshops of New Kid, Peacemaker or In Between at diverse venues throughout the state. Five local performances of those shows in adjacent school districts to the regional venues who otherwise could not afford to host a show are also planned. In addition, two performances at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick will be held for student teachers and family audiences. For older audiences, the NJSBF will sponsor 20 performances of And Then They Came For Me at 20 different schools that are financially unable to host performances.

The Foundation is also sponsoring student and teacher study guides for each play to complement the productions and help facilitate discussion in the classroom that will go beyond the performance.

Here's To Your Health

Over 3.5 million New Jersey residents belong to some form of managed health care insurance plan. To help these citizens understand the intricacies of the managed health care system, as well as their rights and responsibilities, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation teamed with the Community Health Law Project to sponsor the publication of CHLP's To Your Health, Your Consumer Rights In Managed Health Care.

An easy-to-read guide, To Your Health is central to CHLP's To Your Health Program, which provides training, education and counseling for New Jersey residents enrolled in managed health care plans. CHLP, a New Jersey-based public interest law firm, developed the program two years ago in recognition of the broad impact of managed care as it evolves as the primary health delivery system in New Jersey and nationwide.

The free publication provides an explanation of commercial, Medicare and Medicaid managed care systems. The guide contains sample forms, advocacy tips and a helpful resource section.

CHLP Executive Director Harold Garwin anticipates a growing need for consumer assistance in managed health care.

"The state of New Jersey will shortly be converting tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients into managed health care," Garwin said. "Many of these individuals are frail, elderly or chronically disabled, and will require the highest level of health care intervention. They will need ongoing advice and direct assistance in pursuing an appeal or a grievance with their HMOs should needed services be denied or limited," he said.

In addition to the guide and training element of the program "To Your Health" also offers a toll-free hotline for persons requiring guidance and advice with managed health care questions, problems and disputes. The program also provides legal representation to those New Jersey residents who meet eligible income guidelines. CHLP encourages those enrolled in commercial, Medicaid or Medicare managed care plans to take advantage of these resources.

To discuss a managed health care problem or to obtain a copy of To Your Health, Your Consumer Rights In Managed Health Care, contact the "To Your Health" hotline toll-free at 1-888-838-3180. Copies of the guide may also be obtained through the Bar Foundation by calling 1-800-FREE LAW or visiting the Foundation’s web site at www.njsbf.org