THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120695
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
Norfolk teenager Jennifer Riddle says she feels pretty safe and secure in her middle-class neighborhood, a 1950s-era subdivision off Military Highway near Little Creek Road. But she wouldn't venture out alone at night and she always travels with companions to the mall.
``That seems like you are asking for trouble if you leave the house after dark, especially on foot,'' the Lake Taylor High School senior said.
In a society increasingly hardened by violence and suspicion of strangers, Riddle's cautious approach is understandable. A national survey released Thursday showed the threat of crime and violence has had a significant impact on the psyche of America's youth, who are more fearful than ever.
Particularly affected are teens living in ``at-risk'' homes and neighborhoods, where parents are inattentive or abusive, where gangs are a daily part of life, drugs are easy to get and crime thrives.
``The saddest finding is how crime and violence limit the opportunities of the most disadvantaged Americans. It is at bottom an equal opportunity issue,'' said Eric Donovan, co-director of the Washington based Teens, Crime and the Community, a joint initiative of the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law and the National Crime Prevention Council, which commissioned the poll by Louis Harris and Associates.
More than 2,000 teens living in urban, rural and suburban communities were surveyed, and the teens said in the survey, ``Between Hope and Fear: Teens Speak Out on Crime and the Community'' that they are more afraid than they have ever been. Many teens respond to their fear by toting weapons for protection, skipping school to avoid trouble, making lower grades and condoning gang activity and retaliation against perceived wrongs.
Contrary to popular stereotypes, a majority of the teens interviewed said they would be willing to volunteer in community activities to help prevent violence and crime - if only they knew how.
``I think most teenagers feel helpless against it, like there's not really anything you can do,'' said Michael Saks, 17, a senior at Norfolk Academy. ``I don't live in daily fear of my life but I'm aware of the fact that the city and the country are increasingly dangerous.''
Teens ranked drugs, lack of parental involvement and peer pressure as the top three contributors to teen violence. Teenagers interviewed separately in Hampton Roads said drugs are readily available. Guns and other weapons also are not difficult to get, they said.
``I can't say I know where to get cocaine, but I guess if I wanted it bad enough I could,'' Saks said. ``It wouldn't be like climbing Mount Everest.''
Added Riddle: ``It's naive for adults to think that teenagers can't get drugs. If they can get guns, how can you think that we can't get drugs?''
Local teenagers said they generally feel safe at school, but students occasionally have been found with guns on campus.
J. Wylie French, director of school leadership and a member of Virginia Beach's Safe Schools Task Force, said that interviews with students who brought weapons to schools reveal that most did so for protection on the way to and from school, not at school. One girl caught with a knife at school said she had it because a man had been harassing her on her way to the bus stop, French said.
Cyntrica Eaton, a 16-year-old junior at Norcom High School in Portsmouth who resides in the Cavalier Manor neighborhood, said, ``I feel very safe about my school. I haven't known anyone who carried a gun or felt that I was at risk. My neighborhood is the same way.''
Tiffany Hassell, a 17-year-old senior at Maury High in Norfolk, said a friend at another school once was stabbed in the face during a fight. Sometimes school problems spill over into the neighborhood, where kids aren't worried about suspension or expulsion, she said.
``I`m concerned with the community or neighborhood because they do bring (problems) back there,'' Hassell said.
Marjorie L. Stealey, principal of Norview High in Norfolk, said students at her school seem to be taking more responsibility for their behavior. All the city's schools have conflict resolution programs where students work out problems non-violently. No weapons have been found this year at her school, she said.
``When you have kids who decide it's time for them to do something you have a powerful piece for change,'' Stealey said. ``Kids don't want to see kids having to carry weapons or having to talk about safety.'' MEMO: Staff writers Lorraine Eaton and Aleta Payne contributed to this report
ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Some results of the survey of 2,023 teens from across America who
range in age from seventh-graders to high school seniors.
More than one in three believe that crime is a serious problem in
their communities, and three-quarters say the conditions that cause
it are not changing or getting worse
Two out of three said they would feel nervous if they were
walking down the street alone near their home and they encountered a
group of teens they didn't know.
Three in five said they would feel nervous if they encountered a
group of kids their age of a different race or ethnicity.
Over half said they would feel nervous if their friends wanted
them to hang out in an unfamiliar neighborhood.
Almost one in two said they had made at least one change in their
daily routine as a result of fear about crime or violence, including
carrying weapons, avoiding certain parks or playgrounds and skipping
school.
Two in five teens said they had been in a physical fight with
another teen during the past year.
Thirty-five percent of the teens have seen or been in a fight
involving a weapon. For kids in ``at-risk'' neighborhoods, where
gangs, drug and crime are prevalent, 71 percent have witnessed
weapons used.
Seven of 10 said they either don't know or don't think there is
anything they can do to help prevent crime in their neighborhood,
but nine of 10 said they are willing to participate in community
programs to address the problem.
A quarter of the teens said they believe police officers in their
communities do not like people their age.
A majority said friends should help protect and defend one
another: 56 percent said friends should defend you if someone else
disrepects you.
Three in 10 said a boy has the right to retaliate against another
boy who ``checks out'' his girlfriend.
Nearly two of three said that during the past year they often
felt they couldn't trust anyone and that adults looked down on
people their age.
by CNB