Gang Resistance Education and Training Program (GREAT)
Grades: 3-8
Contact: ATF G.R.E.A.T. Program Branch
PO Box 50418
Washington, DC 20091-0418
Phone: 800/ 726-7070
E-mail: great@atfhq.atf.treas.gov
Grades: 3-8
Contact: ATF G.R.E.A.T. Program Branch
PO Box 50418
Washington, DC 20091-0418
Phone: 800/ 726-7070
E-mail: great@atfhq.atf.treas.gov
The Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program is a gang and violence prevention program with a nine-lesson core curriculum. It is designed to help children set goals for themselves, resist pressures, learn how to resolve conflict without violence, and understand how gangs and youth violence impact the quality of their lives. GREAT students discover for themselves the ramifications of gang and youth violence through structured exercises and interactive approaches to learning. The program brings together the combined efforts of law enforcement, schools, and the community to make a difference in the lives of children by providing them with the necessary skills and information to say "no" to gangs and acts of random violence.
The GREAT curriculum is taught by trained, certified, uniformed police officers/special agents to elementary, junior high, and middle school children. The classroom sessions include material on laws, crime, victims, gangs, and drug use. Both the police officer/special agent and the teacher work together to reduce gang involvement in the school and the community.
Evaluators found a 4% reduction in drug use, a 3% reduction in total delinquency, and a 4.5% reduction in minor offenses for those students that received GREAT training, compared to those students who did not receive training.