ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Worried about the increase in violent crimes against youth, the Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers on Wednesday announced the creation of a program to help parents keep their children safe.
The program is based on a documentary on youth violence that will be used in workshops for parents, who will learn about the causes of violence and ways to curb it.
The documentary and other workshop materials will be distributed to nearly 1,200 PTA chapters statewide, reaching 300,000 families, said Lois Cumashot, first vice president of the Virginia PTA.
Pamela Riddick, principal of Ruffner Middle School in Norfolk, said it was fitting the program was being introduced on the birthday of Martin Luther King, who lost his life to a firearm.
``Violence stemming from firearms has permeated our streets with a plague of fear,'' Riddick said at a news conference at the school. ``It casts, if you will, a gloom, a shadow of despair, for we feel ... as if this epidemic of bloodshed cannot be stemmed.''
Homicide is the third-leading cause of death from ages 5 to 14, Riddick said, citing statistics from the Children's Defense Fund, a national children's advocacy group. Youths between the ages of 10 and 19 are killed with a gun at the rate of one every three hours, she said.
``The war against our children must come to an end,'' Riddick said.
The documentary, ``Youth Violence: A Call to Disarm,'' was produced by Norfolk television station WVEC and the Sentara Health System health care organization. It was first broadcast locally in 1995.
In one segment of the documentary, a teen-ager being interviewed in jail talks matter-of-factly about a slaying in which he was involved.
``It was more or less something to do,'' the teen says. ``You want to go out and prove the power you have.''
The workshops will help parents identify warning signs that their children are involved in risky behavior that could lead to violence, such as truancy and poor choices in friends.
Parents also will be taught steps toward raising healthy children, such as encouraging assertive rather than aggressive behavior and being involved in their children's activities.
The goal of the workshops is to develop an understanding of youth violence in Virginia and open up discussions of the potential for violence within families and neighborhoods.
``Community programs such as this initiative are needed to help our children before they engage in criminal activity,'' Gov. George Allen wrote in a letter commending the PTA's efforts.
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