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court programs utilize adults from the legal and law enforcement communities to train youth volunteers both prior to and during their service in youth court. The youth volunteers will considerably benefit and enjoy their volunteer time in youth court if they are well trained and feel good about their time in youth court (Fisher, 2002). This will also increase their continued involvement in youth court and they are likely to encourage their friends to volunteer. Training the adults to train the youth to volunteer is also critical and necessary. Youth volunteers in the local youth court in Northern Illinois have much to say about their program, including “I love volunteering for youth court—it gives me a sense of pride helping others;” “We have a number of youthful offenders who completed the program and now are volunteers for the program;” and “Our program enforces a message to peers that the norm of underage drinking is not acceptable.” Parents of referred youth who were sentenced to youth court also report things like “She woke up after the youth court experience;” “Our child has taken responsibility for his actions and is more aware of how bad decisions can have adverse effects;” and “We felt it was good for our child to hear from her peers what we have been telling her for years.” While some youth and parents may have a negative experience in a local youth court, it appears favorable experiences outnumber negative experiences. Harnessing Positive Peer Influence Youth court is set apart from other juvenile justice programs in that it utilizes peers to help determine the appropriate sentence for other youth who have committed a crime or offense. This critical aspect seems to have touched a good nerve with the adults in local communities who are established and operate the daily logistics of the programs. If peer pressure contributes to the approximately 2.2 million juvenile arrests each year, it can be redirected to become a force leading juveniles to law abiding behavior. Beside the obvious affordability of the youth court program, adult leaders on local, state, and national levels familiar with juvenile crime know all too well the reality of managing juvenile crime and what really takes place in more communities that they want to publicly admit. The courts and probation departments are so backlogged that often a juvenile offender will not have any consequence until the second, third, or even fourth arrest. Youth court is popular because it provides law enforcement with a consequence—a real tangible step in a system of graduated sanctions. Based on the new National Youth Court Data Collection Report released by George Washington University in 2008, and other reports in recent years, the next two to three years will bring the number to a staggering one million youth and adults who have already been involved with a local youth court in America. By all indications, officials only see this number increasing at a rate consistent with the rapid establishment of youth courts. Social change is rare and in the case of the rapidly expanding youth court movement, it is a rare, unexpected, and most welcome movement that will resonate for many years to come. Scott Bernard Peterson serves as the national director for criminal and juvenile justice at YouthBuild USA, and as founder and president of Global Youth Justice, LLC, Boston, Massachusetts. He is an international leader in the movement to establish youth courts. For more information contact him by email: Scott.Peterson@GlobalYouthJustice.org Photo on page 50 used with permission. Copyright Candace Fuji. References Fisher, M. (2002). Youth courts: Young people delivering justice. Roadmaps. Chicago: American Bar Association. Also available at http://www.abanet.org/justice/pdf/ youthcourtsroadmap.pdf Pearson, S. S. (2003, September). Youth court: A path to civic engagement. National Youth Court Center Policy Brief. Lexington, KY: National Youth Court Center, American Probation and Parole Association. Also available this fall at www.GlobalYouthJustice.org Pericak, W. C., Peterson, S. B., & Lockart, P. (1996, Fall). Youth court: The Colonie, New York experience. Journal for Juvenile Justice and Detention, National Juvenile Detention Association, 2(2). Peterson, S. B., & Beres, J. (2008). 1st Report to the Nation, 1993 to 2008: The Global Youth Justice Movement: 15 Year Update on Youth Courts and Teen Courts. (42 pages). Available this fall at www.GlobalYouthJustice.org Peterson, S. B., & Colydas, V. (2001, Fall). In youth courts, teen holds teens accountable. The Safety Zone, 3(3). Peterson, S. B., Dagelman, C., & Pereira, C. (2007). Introducing Community Service Learning. The Journal of the American Probation and Parole Association, 31(2), 22-27. www.appa-net.org Peterson, S. B., & Elmendorf, M., II. (2001, December). Youth Courts: A National Movement. Corrections Today. American Correctional Association, Juvenile Corrections Annual Journal. Peterson, S. B., & Eppink, R. (2007). The next big thing: Teen courts in America. Law Now: Relating Life to Law in Canada, 31 (5), 20-26. 52 | reclaiming children and youth www.reclaimingjournal.com