Troubled Teens Resources

There is teen crisis intervention for drugs, alcohol, sexual offenses and robbery. But there really isn’t a program that specifically addresses how to make a teen comprehend the value of a life. It seems sort of self-evident to most of us and in times past, teens understood that killing another human being was a serious line to cross. Not so much anymore.

“Researcher John DiIulio Jr. from the University of Pennsylvania talked of juvenile facilities where “the buzz of impulsive violence, the vacant stares and smiles, and the remorseless eyes were at once too frightening and too depressing”.

These are observations made in the nineties when it was predicted that a new type of teen criminal was on the rise, the “superpredators.” Well, they are emerging, not when predicted, but now, in the new century, when you would have thought that crime associated with out-of-control and troubled teens would have diminished.

“Corzine divides juvenile offenders into three groups — those who can turn their lives around, those who most closely resemble DiIulio’s superpredators, and those on the bubble. The superpredators, or violent repeat offenders, comprise less than 10 percent of juvenile criminals.

We could all agree to lock them up. But a state study indicates that for other young offenders, adult prisons may only make them more prone to become violent once released.

Getting too tough can turn a salvageable kid into a hardened felon.

But not getting tough enough can turn loose a superpredator who will blow away a store clerk for $35.”
(source)