By the year 2005,the number of teens,ages 14 to 17,will swell by 17 per cent,with an even larger increase among people of color——20 per cent among African-Americans and 30 per cent among Latinos.Given the difficult conditions in which many of these youngsters grow up-with inferior schools and violence-torn neighborhoods-many more teenagers will be at risk in the years ahead.
Tragically,the number of violent teens has grown in recent years,even as the population of teenagers has contracted.But the teen population has bottomed out and is now on the upswing.If current rates of offending remain unchanged,the number of teens who commit murder and other scrious violent crimes shall increase,if only because of the demographic tumaround in the population at risk. However,given the worsening conditions in which children are being raised, given the breakdown of all our institutions as well as of our cultural norms,given our wholesale disinvestment in youth,our Nation faces the grim prospect of a future wave of juvenile violence that may make the coming years look like“the good old days.'
The hopeful news is that there is still time to stem the tide-to prevent the next wave of youth crime.But we must act now-by reinvesting in schools, recreation,job training,support for families,and mentoring.We must act now while this baby-boomerang generation is still young and impressionable,and will be impressed with what a teacher,a preacher,or some other authority figure has to say.If we wait until these children reach their teenage years and the next crime wave is upon us,it may be too late to do much about it.
The challenge for the future,therefore,is how best to deal with youth violence.Unfortunately,we are obsessed with quick and easy solutions that will not work,such as the wholesale transfer of juveniles to the jurisdiction of the adult court,parental responsibility laws,midnight curfews,the V-chip,boot camps,three strikes,even caning and capital punishment,at the expense of long-term and difficult solutions that will work,such as providing young children with strong,positive role models,quality schools,and recreation programs.
One of the most compelling easy solutions is the 'three strikes you're out' movement for repeat offenders that has swept across America,from Washington State,where it began,to Washington,D.C.,where our congressmen and congresswomen are eager to show their constituents that they can strike out the side on crime.
increase(Para.1)
swell
