Isn’t it true that
crime rates are dropping?
While crime in general is down, more teen-agers are committing violent offenses
and more are becoming victims. It’s a national trend. America is arguably
rearing its most violent generation of young people.
What about crime rates for teenagers?
Since the late 1980s, the offending rates for teen-agers and young adults have
increased dramatically nationally while rates for older age groups have declined.
The rate of 14-to-17-year-olds who were homicide victims jumped almost 150 percent
between 1985 and 1993 and, despite a recent ebb, still remains considerably higher
than just 20 years ago.
How are today’s teens different from previous generations?
Adolescent turmoil has been part of the national psyche as long as there have
been teen-agers. But in an age of instant everything — from electronic
mail to automated teller machines — teens are turning to hair-trigger solutions
to their fears and anger. Most kids who are involved in violent crimes have a
sense of powerlessness and lack of control in their lives. Those kids see guns
as an equalizer. And in a nation in which a third of all households have at least
one gun, most kids know where to get one. Extreme response is common, a definitive
method of coping in a culture of fear.
Are a lot of kids bringing guns to school?
In a national survey released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 6.6 percent of high school students in New Jersey reported that they
had been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property at least once
during the 1996–97 school year. During the month before the release of
the survey, nearly 8 percent of students reported they had carried a weapon on
school property and 4.2 percent reported they did not go to school at least one
day during the previous school year because they felt unsafe.
Why do kids become violent?
In most instances, adolescents act out because something is not right in their
lives. We cannot predict which students will harm others and in what circumstances
they will, but we do know that students who exhibit certain patterns of behavior
need some sort of assistance. Typically, what they need most is to speak with
a caring and empathic adult — or peer — about their problems. In
most cases, early intervention can prevent future outbursts.
What can be done about teen violence?
Unless a student is behaving aggressively or violently, the first response should
be to arrange a private and supportive counseling session to listen to the student’s
perspective and discuss their lives.
