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On their way to and from school, students across the country walk by hundreds of abandoned houses housing prostitute, drug dealers and gangs. Other students have been robbed in open daylight within sight of their school. Inside the schools, stories of untrained security guards selling drugs or sexually harassing young women have become a constant reality.

The issue of safety and security in and around schools developed into the highest priority for youth during the 30th annual National People's Action conference.

Representatives from the Department of Education and Department of Justice heard spirited testimony from the youth leaders about everyday experiences concerning lack of safety and security in their communities and schools.

The all youth panel of ten leaders asked for commitments from the departments to attend 10 cities to see firsthand what safety issues youth must deal with on a daily basis. They also demanded the representatives encourage states to make schools regularly assess the safety for students inside and outside the school as well as prompting states to have uniform training requirements before hiring security guards for schools.

The youth also continued with their campaign to get a bill introduced into Congress. The Youth Service Scholarship Act is set to be introduced in April. The groups met with their representatives in Washington to tell them of the bill and urge them to support and/or co-sponsor once it's introduced. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has already agreed to introduce the bill and after these meetings the bill now has four more sponsors.

This year's NPA marked the largest presence of youth leaders, both in numbers and in leadership positions. This was also the second straight conference with a workshop run totally by youth. Youth also had leadership roles in numerous workshops including: jobs, education, immigration, and safe neighborhoods.