Educated Encounters for Schools
Educated Encounters is a school based educational program designed by law enforcement executives, career prosecutors and educators to better foster community relations between high school students and the police. The program, which has been Board of Education approved in a pilot city in New Jersey, provides a forum for police officers and students to have meaningful connections in the classroom during US History classes. Through the use of real life scenarios, officers and students engage in discussion with special attention paid to the issue of compliance and its importance relating to the safety of both police and citizens.
Officers and students are provided with real life scenarios and talking points that lead to discussion relating to the Constitution and the Amendments. Students gain a fundamental understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the police, including instances where the two closely interact and align. This provides an opportunity for police officers and students to consciously construct a relationship in the classroom that is reciprocal and transcends into the community.
Our goal is to prepare students for interaction with police by providing them with the information and tools necessary to see officers in their community as partners in their safety and well being, thus reducing distrust and the potential for conflict. The belief is that this will benefit not only students and police, but it will be a foundation upon which to build a more trusting and harmonious relationship with all citizens of the community.
Interested in our Student-Athlete Program?
Educated Encounters offers a program specifically tailored to student-athletes that is designed to teach students how to have positive interactions with law enforcement. Presented by active and retired law enforcement officers with no less than 25 years of distinguished service, many of whom have backgrounds as athletes and have competed at the high school and collegiate levels.
Program details
Objectives
To strengthen communication between students and police officers during this critical developmental period in young peoples lives.
To provide students with a fundamental understanding of their rights, while emphasizing the importance of compliance as it relates to the safety of both police officers and citizens.
To allow students to develop a greater trust and understanding of the police and give the officers an opportunity to forge deeper connections with young people in the community.
Scenarios
Real life scenarios are an integral part of this project. They can be customized to include familiar locations where police and the public frequently interact in each community. For each scenario, a series of questions involving 1st, 4th and 5th Amendment issues are provided as talking points .
In addition, a role playing component can be utilized to demonstrate the dynamic of both aggravating and mitigating circumstances within each scenario. This helps to illustrate how the students can affect the outcome of a police interaction.
Ultimate Goal
Our goal is to prepare students for interaction with police by providing them with the information and tools necessary to view the officers as partners in their safety and well-being. This can help to reduce distrust and the potential for negative interactions.
The hope is that this will benefit not only students and police, but it will be a foundation upon which to build a more trusting and harmonious relationship with all citizens of the community.