Students — over 120 of them — from Batesville’s Finch-Henry Job Corps Center hosted a Y2Y human formation  and balloon launch on center Monday as part of the national, Job Corps student-led anti-violence initiative, Youth 2 Youth:  Partners 4 Peace.
Students started Youth 2 Youth, or Y2Y, with three basic aims:  to talk about violence and aggression in their communities, to empower one another to prevent violence and aggression, and to share their stories and talk about solutions to help prevent violence and aggression.
Founded in the spring of 2015, Y2Y is a violence-prevention initiative created by and led by Job Corps students nationwide.  This initiative is the first national, student-created and student-led effort to curb youth violence on Job Corps centers, in their surrounding communities, and in the hometowns of their students and graduates.
Students recognize that violence—online, in the workplace, and at home—is a critical issue that young professionals must be equipped to understand, avoid, and address.
The Panolian photo by John Howell