Youth Violence

* The teens who recently resorted to senseless violence in East Ventura are symptomatic of a major and growing problem.

The vast majority of Ventura County youth are great young people. They care about others and are seriously preparing for a happy, productive life. We need to help and support these youngsters in every way possible.

Regretfully there will always be a few teens and young adults who have no interest in the welfare of others or in improving their own lives. They only live for momentary status within their small groups of other losers. And periodically they resort to violence to gain that status.

These troubled teens need to be separated from the majority of positive-minded kids. We have great schools and a great Boys and Girls Club in Ventura. These are not places that should be subjected to violence-prone losers.

While living for 22 years in Santa Barbara, I served as chairman of the Juvenile Justice Commission of Santa Barbara County. Previously I was a counselor at Boys Town in Nebraska. During these experiences I was constantly confronted with the problem of what to do with the few youths who demonstrated severe behavior problems.

I never really came up with a satisfactory answer. But I do believe that youths who resort to violence and crime should be dealt with severely and expeditiously by the juvenile justice system. And they should be separated from the good kids as much as possible.

JIM WOODARD

Ventura