BOSTON, Nov. 5, 2014—A multiagency coalition will gather in Roxbury tomorrow to promote an updated version of a violence prevention curriculum geared toward Boston’s middle-schoolers.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, UMass Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh will join representatives of Clear Channel Communications to unveil a billboard promoting Overcoming Violence – a teaching tool that updates the Understanding Violence curriculum presented in city schools and youth centers for the past 10 years.

The event is scheduled to start at 11:30 tomorrow morning at the Timilty Middle School, located at 205 Roxbury St. in Roxbury. A billboard promoting Overcoming Violence – one of a dozen such billboards across Boston donated by Clear Channel – will be unveiled following a speaking program.

The curriculum — which includes a documentary video, site visits, guest speakers, and group discussion – was developed by DA Conley’s office in 2004 and presented to thousands of Boston high school and middle school students in the decade that followed. This year, graduate students at UMass Boston collaborated to update the video and discussion components to modernize and retool them specifically for a middle school audience.

Like Understanding Violence, the Overcoming Violence curriculum highlights the importance of education and positive choices for young people, contrasting them with the negative consequences of violence and criminal activity. Sheriff Tompkins allowed the contributing UMass students to film portions of the documentary at the Suffolk County House of Corrections, and diverse interview subjects show the stark contrast between the increased life options that come with education and the sharply reduced freedom that accompanies incarceration. A Boston Police homicide detective, a Superior Court judge, an educator, and the mother of a homicide victim also have major roles in the video.

The joint effort to create, present, and promote Overcoming Violence reflects a partnership across law enforcement, city government, educators, and others to reduce youth violence, and especially gun violence, in Boston. By gearing the updated curriculum to a younger audience, authorities hope to interrupt the cycle of violence and retaliation earlier in youngsters’ lives by providing them with a clearer view of the consequences of their actions.

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