Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994 TAG: 9404190014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CONNIE MORELLA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The American Psychological Association's Commission on Youth and Children studied first- and second-graders - 6- and 7-year-olds - in the District of Columbia, and discovered that 45 percent had seen someone mugged, 31 percent had seen someone shot and 39 percent had seen dead bodies.
Some city children play a new game, ``funeral,'' where they pick out the color of their caskets, the colors of their clothes and the names of those to be invited to the service. Every morning, parents in cities and suburbs send their children off to school wondering whether they will meet a gun-toting classmate.
And while the FBI tells us that overall crime rates have actually declined in the past five years, so too has the age of our criminals. The rate of violent crime has risen 18.9 percent in that period, and 40.9 percent since 1983. Arrests of juveniles under 18 for violent offenses increased by more than 57.1 percent between 1983 and 1992. In that same period, weapons violations among juveniles increased 117 percent, murder and non-negligent manslaughter 128.1 percent.
Many of our nation's schools are no longer safe citadels of scholarship. Metal detectors, weapon-free school zones and armed guards are part of daily life in many of them. But while preserving a tenuous peace, these so-called deterrents do not address the dangers and difficulties many youngsters face, especially those who are most at risk.
Last year, at a Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments conference on violence, a panel of teen-agers told an adult audience that many of them had no one to talk to, no one on whom they could depend, no structure to their lives, no direction and no sense of purpose.
How do we help our at-risk youth - kids who are abused, who abuse alcohol and drugs, who have had run-ins with the law, are failing at school - to grow into productive and healthy citizens? And what can Congress do?
One way is through federal funding for early-intervention programs. We know that money spent on preschoolers in Head Start is well-spent. Then why not intervention programs for older children and teens - a ``Fresh Start'' program? We don't have to look far for inspiration. Why not assist such organizations as the Girl and Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and 4-H Clubs expand their programs to meet the needs of at-risk kids? Programs such as these can help young people who may be headed for trouble by developing their skills, values and self-esteem and, at the same time, letting them have some fun.
Why not help such organizations as the American Red Cross, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Child Welfare League, the Salvation Army and the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services to develop and maintain programs - perhaps in local schools - that target teen-agers headed for trouble? Why not follow the advice of Lorraine Monroe, principal of New York City's Frederick Douglass School: Provide kids not only a rigorous curriculum and strict discipline but give them lots of choices for after-school hours as well.
Monroe, as quoted in a New York Times column by Bob Herbert, says: ``We have a very rigorous extracurricular activities program. It's one of the best anti-violence tools. We don't have kids who punch each other.''
At Frederick Douglass, young people can choose from ``tennis, dance, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, science clubs, and music programs.''
If adults - teachers, parents and youth organizations - don't provide the structure in the lives of kids, Monroe said, ``the gangs will.'' One way to avoid this is through the Youth Development Block Grant, a $400 million initiative I have introduced in the House that would reallocate funds to coordinate and expand community-based youth development programs for 6- to 19-year-olds. It is first and foremost a prevention program, one that will provide funds directly to local communities. Ninety-five percent of YDBG dollars would go to local jurisdictions, 4 percent to states, and 1 percent would remain at the federal level for administrative purposes.
The programs will be tailored to meet nonacademic needs of high-risk kids in urban, suburban and rural communities. That means more opportunities for young people to participate in Scouting, community service, the arts and sports. The programs will be developed by hometown organizations that know their kids best and know what they need.
For today's young people, the biggest challenges they will face will not be in school but in empty houses, unsupervised parks, shopping malls or in neighborhood gangs. Shouldn't they be given opportunities to test themselves somewhere else?
Connie Morella is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
The Washington Post
by CNB