I think the one thing that impresses me about your program is that it’s [presented by] high school students … peers, it’s high school students telling their peers or giving them the message …as opposed to adults …telling the students that they need to learn how to respect themselves and this is how you do it. In the last maybe three [or] four years we’ve had more outside organizations coming in… But the few who have come in have been adults. I wouldn’t say the kids resent adults telling them how to live their lives; they’re saying alright, that’s fine but you don’t understand where I’m coming from. Your Respect program understands them because … a lot of them do come from bad neighborhoods, [they] don’t have the perfect life. [They] come from single parent homes or have a stepfather or another parent that could be abusive.

Our kids always enjoy your presentations; usually the next day I get bombarded with other students asking me why they weren’t invited downstairs. That’s a good thing; it tells a lot about your program

Claudia Resch; Conflict Resolution Specialist, Richard R. Green High School of Teaching