RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, today's young people are faced with a myriad of complex and difficult economic, family, academic, and social challenges, and often need additional resources and services to help; and

WHEREAS, peer education programs embrace a youth development concept that provides young people with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to become responsible, caring, contributing citizens; and

WHEREAS, peer education programs are nationally recognized as cost-effective and comprehensive approaches for preventing alcohol drug abuse, reducing campus violence, generating respect for racial and ethnic diversity, increasing school attendance and academic performance, and improving overall student health and self-esteem; and

WHEREAS, adolescents and teenagers, themselves, are an underutilized and effective resource, which for many youth, is more credible than adult educators because they can communicate on a level that is easily understood by students; and

WHEREAS, research substantiates that peer education programs for youth help inform students about high-risk behaviors, like unprotected sex, smoking, and illegal drug use, by having students serve as role models for other students; and

WHEREAS, the 2004 Hawaii Secondary Student Conference recommended that peer education programs be a requirement in all Hawaii public secondary schools; and

WHEREAS, there are fifteen of the forty-one, or thirty-seven percent, of Hawaii secondary public schools that are currently participating in the peer education programs; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to encourage all public secondary schools to implement peer education programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to provide support and technical assistance to secondary schools that are beginning peer education programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Education.

Report Title:

Requesting peer education programs in secondary schools.