Teen violence (2)
¢4 steps to reduce youth violence, cont.
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l3. Help schools identify troubled and disruptive children at an early age, and provide children and their parents with the counseling and training that can help kids get back on track. 
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l  4. Improve deficient parenting and prevent child abuse and neglect by: a) Offering high-risk parents in-home parenting-coaching; and b) making sure child protective, foster care and adoption services have policies and enough well-trained staff to protect and heal abused and neglected children.
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lhttp://www.fightcrime.org/reports/schoolviol.htm 
3rd step – when children are continually disruptive it’s a warning signal that it’s time to start looking for causes and seek solutions.  A Montreal study shows that providing disruptive 1st & 2nd grade boys (what about the girls?) with counseling & other services cut in half the odds that they would later be in special classes, rated disruptive by their teachers or peers or required to repeat a grade in school – this study shows that the risk of future violence is sharply reduced when there is early intervention.

& finally, the 4th step – Being abused or neglected multiplies the risk that a child will grow up to be violent.  As a society, we must act before abuse takes place to expand parenting-coaching classes and to provide family support programs that prevent children from being abused and neglected.  Bottom line: Investing in kids (investing early) saves lives and money

Of course the library cannot address these necessary steps alone, but so many of us see these issues in our buildings – we can be community partners helping our young people achieve successful lives.  (More info. on the fightcrime web site)