Troubled Kids News

In the next hour, Maine's law enforcement officers will arrest a teen - over 8,500 teens in a year. National youth-gang related homicides are up over 40 percent from 1999 to 2003, the latest year for which data are available. Law enforcement leaders recommend a one-two punch to address teen and gang crime: tough and close supervision combined with research-tested interventions that pull kids away from violence. This "carrot and stick" police and community collaboration closely tracks high-risk kids and swiftly prevents future gang violence and links offenders to neighborhood services so kids get off drugs, stay in school and find a job. In Boston, a citywide effort like this resulted in a two-thirds cut in youth homicides. The second punch is a successful program such as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), which provides structure, discipline, and support for chronic teen offenders and their families. It works on an individual basis with teenaged offenders to change their behavior, break the negative peer connections that lead to crime and move them back into classrooms and jobs. Parents are also coached to better manage their teenager's behavior. Studies found that the program cuts repeat arrests by as much as half and saves the public an estimated $24,000 in future costs and less earnings.

Each year, more kids are bullied than the populations of Philadelphia, Columbus and Memphis combined. Bullying is no longer just on playgrounds and in school hallways; it's also on the Internet and cell phones. A new poll shows that 13 million American children aged 6 to 17 are being cyber bullied and many of them are not telling anyone about it. Many bullies grow up to commit crimes - one study showed that four of every 10 boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24. The Olweus program developed in Norway produced a 50 percent reduction of bullying there and a 20 percent reduction when it was replicated in South Carolina.

Two of the most pressing problems in Maine today are drug abuse and the resulting crime. Although overall crime has decreased in rural parts of the state in recent years, the rising drug use among teens is a looming threat of more crime. According to the 2004 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, Maine's youth use selected drugs at considerably higher rates than other teens nationally. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Maine members support increased funding of programs that work to keep kids away from drugs and crime.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Maine reports on troubled kids:

"Children and teens in rural Maine need access to proven programs that steer them away from drugs and alcohol. We cannot afford to lose these kids to a life of drug dependence and crime. We call upon Congress to help us pay for prevention now - so later we don't all pay the costs of doing nothing."

- Evert Fowle, District Attorney, Kennebec and Somerset County

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• For children in sixth through tenth grade, nearly one in six - 3.2 million - are victims of bullying each year. An additional 3.7 million bully other children.
• Thirty-eight (38) percent of suburban counties and 12 percent of rural counties in the U.S. report gang activity.
• Preventing one child from adopting a life of crime saves $1.7 million.