TALKING POINTS
  • Issues & Solutions
Issues:

  • Youth violence;
  • Gangs - national gangs and their influences on local gangs;

  • Juvenile offenders;
  • Bullying;
  • Labels reflecting personal adult biases and assumptions which are frequently assigned to kids such as:  bad kids, incorrigible kids, problem child, high-risk kids, at-risk kids, lost causes, troublemakers, undesirable elements, troubled kids, freaks, emos, vamps, geeks, nerds, unwanted, impossible, resistant, defiant, criminals, juvenile delinquents, conduct disordered, emotionally disturbed, retarded, rotten, spoiled, bad seed, punks, and throwaway kids;
  • Complicating factors which impact and help determine choices made by all kids in order to cope and survive;
  • Active forms of abuse and victimization:  Sexual, Physical, and Emotional; and the passive form of abuse and victimization:  Neglect; 

  • Contexts within which abuse and victimization occur:  home/family; community; school; society; politics; and religion;

Solutions: 
  • Prevention and Intervention;
  • Quality education which works for every child;
  • Parent support and education - adult roles and responsibilities, indiscriminate/irresponsible sexual activity; genetic/hereditary factors; educational/legal rights awareness; and protection relative to legal rights and juvenile justice;
  • Transparency and outside oversight for ALL publicly funded agencies, institutions, and organizations, including all levels of law enforcement and supervision (probation and parole), and especially juvenile justice related services;
  • Clearly defined, delineated, enforced, and published ethical principles and standards for ANY and ALL agencies, institutions, and organizations providing any level or type of services to children and their families;
  • Insisting on and enforcing professional competence requirements for all levels of interaction with children and their families;
  • Full collaboration among agencies, institutions, and organizations; with clear recognition of limits and expertise relative to specific populations and groups served;
  • And, complete elimination of monopolistic thinking and cronyism.