The UF College Democrats partnered with Ben and Jerry’s on Tuesday to campaign for UF students to support the Youth Promise Act, which stands for Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education.
The group passed out free ice cream while talking to students on the Plaza of the Americas.
The Youth Promise Act focuses on implementing ways to reduce the prison population. The legislation would focus on using evidence-based practices, such as mentoring and counseling services, to prevent teen violence and criminal street gang activity.
The act will also involve committees that will analyze certain high-risk communities to try to solve the problems that cause such activity.
As students enjoyed the free ice cream, both groups rallied for them to call for their state senators to support the law.
“We hope to get it passed before Congress’ session ends in November,” said Dan Kahn, the event coordinator.
Supporters hope this act will spread peace throughout America and that people will act to end violent behavior.
“It’s challenging for people to risk intervening,” said Jeffrey Weisberg, a member of the Peace Alliance board of directors. “A lot of people just let it go.”
Many believe that the act will help the government save money. According to a World Health Organization report, the U.S. spends over $65 billion dollars annually on maintaining the prison system. The adviser for College Democrats believes that the act is “a good idea that’s long overdue.”
“It has to be looked at as an investment,” said Leslie Thiele, a professor at UF. “The long term pay off is the reduction in the prisons; the short term costs is implementing these programs.”
Erin Murphy, College Democrats vice president of community affairs, said that the act relates to students because it deals with underprivileged youth.
“The Youth Promise Act would provide more funding to keep younger people out of jail,” Murphy said. “There are ways to improve the lives of young people.”
