IRVINE : Parents Seen as Path to Combat Violence

In an effort to reduce youth violence, city officials are looking beyond teachers and police to people who have a more fundamental effect on children’s behavior--parents.

The City Council has allocated about $15,000 for a parent-training program that is set to begin early next year.

The program will take the form of workshops in which families and a counselor sit down to discuss parental authority, discipline, morals, ethics and ways of improving relations between adults and children.

The workshops will be aimed at “high risk” youths who are already misbehaving or have poor school attendance. The hope is to reach the youths before they commit crimes.

“I think this has the potential for stopping negative juvenile behavior by intervening in a positive way early on rather than catching a criminal later,” said Councilwoman Paula Werner.

“We can’t as a society hire one police officer for every person or youth,” Werner said. “We have to instill positive values in youths.”

The parent training is being organized by the Irvine-based Community Services Programs. In a report to the city, the group said that more than 60 students in the city have been identified by school and law enforcement officials as being “high risk” for anti-social or violent behavior.

These teens and their families will be among those recruited for the program. But other families who believe they might benefit from the counseling can also seek seats in the workshops, said Marsha Burgess, Irvine’s community services superintendent.

The program is free and will be held at night and on weekends.

“We are trying to intervene when there is the first hint of trouble by giving parents the skills of communications, setting limits and discipline,” Werner said. “This is helping parents take back their responsibility.”

It’s a natural part of growing up for teens to test their limits and assert independence, Werner said. But sometimes, parents find it difficult to deal with this rebellion, she said.

The parent training was one of more than 50 recommendations made by the Safe Community Task Force, a committee of city and school district representatives.