Youth Violence Prevention: It's Not All About Teenagers

My colleague Elena and I are on similar wavelengths.  I too read Anna Badkhen’s November 7th article  on violence through the eyes of local youth.  I was struck by the quotes from local teens and the sense of hopelessness and vulnerability throughout.

When communities are confronted with the issue of violence (particularly among youth), the usual suspects are  called upon for answers.  What are the police doing?  The mayor?  The courts? The schools?  The parents?  These questions are legitimate, as all of these groups have significant parts to play in the production of healthy and safe adolescents.  Yet I wonder why more people aren't asking about what's being done for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Gun-toting toddlers aren't the issue, of course.  The issue is what happens (or more likely, does not) in a child's earliest experiences that increases his or her risk of violent behavior in the future.  We have reams of data from longtitudinal studies about the economic benefits of investment in high quality early childhood interventions.  People often pick up on the high-school graduation or future earning potential parts of this equation.  Not enough attention, however, is paid to data around reduced crime and incarceration that also accounts for large portions of these economic benefits. 

Rates of crime and incarceration have been shown to be significantly reduced in at-risk children who had the benefit of high quality, comprehensive early childhood programs.  (Click here for a brief on this issue from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.)  We need to tackle this problem earlier by investing in the programs and centers that affect a child’s very foundations, because for our region’s children, adolescence will be here all too soon.