Safe Night for Teens Becomes a Nationwide Event for TV

On Saturday night, more than 2,000 Los Angeles-area students will gather at the Church of the Harvest in the West Adams area, joining a million American youth at more than 1,100 sites across the nation, to participate in a major public television event that is being billed by its organizers as sort of a giant New Year’s Eve party.

Called “Safe Night USA,” the hourlong program, which will be broadcast live through much of the country, with a tape-delayed showing locally on KCET and KVCR at 9 p.m., is being presented by Wisconsin Public Television in partnership with Black Entertainment Television in Washington. KCET is also producing a portion of the program.

Built on the three-pronged premise of no weapons, no alcohol or other drugs, and no arguments--Safe Night was founded in 1994 by former Milwaukee police officer and public health educator Olusegun Sijuwade. It has been credited as a key factor in that city’s 60% decline in juvenile homicide. Now, driven by a $1.1-million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the program has gone from Wisconsin public television to PBS.

“The premise is that kids can have a good time and don’t have to be at risk,” said Safe Night project director and executive producer Maria Alvarez Stroud. “It’s such a simple idea. You bring kids together, adhere to the three rules, have a party and in the middle throw in the educational component.”

For “Safe Night USA,” most of the participating adolescents, whose ages generally range from 11 to 17 and who were tapped by scores of diverse organizations, will be watching the program unfold on movie-sized screens set up in the churches, schools, parks and even roller skating rinks that are serving as host sites. But at three huge Safe Night parties--in Milwaukee, at BET studios in Washington and in Los Angeles--the audiences will become a significant part of the mostly live program. The actual filming of the Los Angeles portion, encompassing about 18 minutes of the show, takes place in the 6 p.m. hour.

Comic Wayne Brady of ABC’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will host from Los Angeles and Doug E. Doug of CBS’ “Cosby” will host in Milwaukee.

There will also be drop-ins at Safe Night events in Miami; Detroit; Shelton, Wash., near Seattle; and in Paducah, Ky., near West Paducah, the town hit by the shooting in December 1997 at Heath High School, when three students were killed and five were wounded. “We’re still grieving,” coordinator Nancy Snook told producers, “and our Safe Night event will help us in the healing process.”

The format for “Safe Night” is designed to be a mix of entertainment and education. There’ll be “Teen Summit” dancers in Washington, step-dancers in Los Angeles and break-dancers in Milwaukee.

The program will also present three short taped profiles, including the story of Victor “Tito” Rivera, originally from South-Central Los Angeles and now living in Santa Fe, N.M. Rivera has turned a life of gangs and violence into one of mentoring and caring for kids at risk, and his story is being used to illustrate the no-weapons portion of Safe Night’s message.

In Milwaukee, Doug will discuss with his audience the problems kids face in schools today. In Washington, BET’s “Teen Summit” host Adimu will be joined by Dominique Dawes, who won a gold medal in gymnastics as part of the U.S. team at the 1996 Olympics, and 250 audience members to talk about weapons.

And in Los Angeles, the audience will discuss the handling of conflicts--for example, when two young men have a confrontation over a girlfriend. “We don’t want to script it,” said Sharon Selico, producer of the L.A. segment. “We want the kids to be off the cuff--raw and real.”

*

* “Safe Night USA” will air at 9 p.m. Saturday on KCET and KVCR.