Newshour American Graduate
February 1, 2012
Written By: Kelly Chen

This week, the NewsHour’s American Graduate team takes a look at juvenile justice and gang violence as it relates to the dropout crisis, with reports starting Wednesday on our broadcast and website.

Join us for a live chat* with two people featured in our series — Victor Rios, a former gang member and high school dropout turned sociology professor, and Richard Ross, a photographer who documents what life is like for young people in prison.

To participate in our live chat, join us here this Friday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET*. You can also leave your questions in the comments section below or tweet them to @NewsHourAmGrad using the hashtag #AmGrad.

The participants scheduled to join the chat (subject to change) include:

• Victor Rios, is a former gang member who grew up in Oakland, Calif. He is now a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara studying juvenile criminal justice and gang life for young people. He is also the author of “Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys.” The NewsHour broadcast will air a report on Rios and his efforts on Wednesday.

• Richard Ross is a photographer and professor at UC Santa Barbara. For the past five years, he has documented and interviewed juvenile delinquents as part of his”Juvenile In Justice” project. The NewsHour report featuring Ross is scheduled to air on Thursday’s NewsHour broadcast.