NCJ Number
126387
Journal
Atlantic Volume: 265 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1990) Pages: 49-66
Date Published
1990
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The article discusses the effects of violent crime and family instability on children's lives and presents the argument that the control of crime in the streets, in the schools, and in the home ought to be the issue of supreme importance to the young and thereby to the future.
Abstract
The argument presented starts with the idea that crime does not wash over all Americans equally. Children need love, sustenance, and order. However, three quarters of America's 64 million children live in metropolitan areas, a fifth live in low-income households, and at least a tenth are latch key children. In failing to insulate our children from criminal activity, the future of American children is being jeopardized. The situation is discussed both with the children as the victims and as the perpetrators of violence. Family breakdown is presented as the most important source of violence by and among children. Various methods to bolster intact families are discussed, from public rhetoric about the nuclear family being a necessary institution to the future to State-funded compacts with parents and children about the value of education and a drug-free life to a strictly transitional welfare system or child protection services system that is strengthened while still involving the parents in the child's life. The situation in the schools across America is also discussed, emphasizing the idea that for education to work, the school must be a safe and effective environment and not one terrorized by crime or gangs. The article closes with a discussion of society's treatment of teenagers and young criminals and a prediction of what the future will hold if the trends presented are not stopped or drastically changed.