Squash It!

It's just a bit of street lingo borrowed from inner-city kids, but with it a Harvard public health expert is hoping to stem the tide of violence among the nation's youth.

Jay Winsten, Ph.D., is not just any old academic. He's the person who brought us the highly successful designated-driver program. Squash It! may prove at least as mediagenic.

Winsten first picked up on the phrase while conducting focus groups around the country among kids from violent neighborhoods. He added a hand gesture--the time-out signal, with the vertical part of the T as a fist, because gestures have more staying power in a culture with rapid lingo changes. And he's crafted a national media campaign that he hopes will show kids a way to avoid head-on collisions of wills,without losing face, life, or limb.

Appropriating the props of pop culture, Winsten has arranged for Squash It! to be worked into the story lines of Fox television shows, rap songs, and public service announcements by national sports coaches--media the kids said they watched.

Even if just saying no to violence becomes a new social norm on the streets, "Squash It! alone will not put an end to street violence;' says Winsten, director of Harvard's Center for Health Communication. "It's one of maybe 10 different social solutions, including gun control and job placement, that may have an impact collectively."

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