Education to Stop Violence

In the April 21 Times are three articles (“Strategies Aim to Head Off Youth Crime,” “Body Found in Desert Is Abducted Boy’s,” and “Details May Emerge on Slain Driver’s Fate”) that are inextricably linked. Crime, murder, violence and unfathomable cruelty stun us over and again, as do the backgrounds of the individual criminals, yet the strategies for “prevention” we put forth are sorely off the mark.

The “first sign of errant youthful behavior” is not the time to act. Catching “crime-prone behavior before it turns serious” is a Band-Aid approach. Yes, criminals need to be brought to justice and punished appropriately. Yes, we need to address what is happening now with youths who may become hardened criminals. But it is time we end the cycle of violence by addressing these problems at their root, rather than simply pasting on programs and meting out retribution that, although they advance politicians’ careers, are way too late for victims and their families. We can sentence the guilty to death in order to “rid” ourselves of their evil, but what of the potential perpetrators born daily? What of their future victims?

Only through parent and child education on the specific issues of conflict resolution and self-esteem building that starts in infancy and continues through childhood and adolescence can we hope to begin to prevent the development of ever more murderers, rapists, child molesters and their victims. Let’s commit ourselves to true prevention: early childhood programs that teach parents techniques to make their children feel worthwhile, to feel heard, to fill themselves with love rather than hate, to resolve differences nonviolently.

JEANNIE BREWER MD

Assistant Professor of Family

Medicine, USC