Students from Israeli sci-tech schools take charge of the safety of their neighborhoods in NESHAMA (soul, spirit), a Civil Youth Guard program initiated by Israel’s largest scientific and technological educational network.

Participating students serve as volunteer patrol guards, working alongside local authorities who give them firsthand experience learning how the local police force works to keep communities safe. The communities benefit from the additional security support the students provide.

The volunteers complete a two-month training program learning to handle violence, drugs and youth crime. The training prepares the students for neighborhood policing, school safety, playground patrol and events security.

The project is also active in the Arab, Bedouin and Druze schools under the title “Local Youth Guard.”   Operated in close collaboration with the local police and municipalities, students guard kindergartens and public facilities, and patrol school bus stops and crosswalks.

At a festive ceremony commemorating the end of their training and the start of their duties, student patrollers receive certificates and uniforms and visit their local police station to get acquainted with police work.