Conquering Youth Violence: A Special Report in the NYS Bar Association Law Journal
Like every other state across the nation, New York is wrestling with what to do about the numbers of
violent children in our midst, overwhelming our education, social services and juvenile justice systems, to
name but a few. In the aftermath of particularly horrific incidents – Jonesboro, Paducah, Springfield, Columbine, Virginia Tech – we grieve together, bringing flowers and candles, playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes as yet again we bury dead students and dead teachers.
And as the dreadful images play over and over on the evening news and the headlines splash across the front pages of the morning papers, we ask ourselves why? What gets into these kids? How can they go to school and gun down their classmates in such a cold-blooded, calculated manner? Where are these kids coming from?
Contrary to what many may believe, the answer to the question “why” is not a mystery. It lies in the developmental processes of the human brain where all behavior originates. Psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry, founder and head of the Child Trauma Center in Houston, Texas, says it best: “It isn’t the finger that pulls the trigger, it’s the brain. It isn’t the penis that rapes it’s the brain.”
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