REPORT DECRIES HARD-LINE APPROACH TO YOUTH VIOLENCE

Crackdowns, boot camps and stints in adult prison are doing nothing to
ease America's "epidemic" of youth violence, the U.S. Surgeon-General
declared yesterday, launching a call for courts and governments to
focus on prevention rather than punishment.

Tabling a major new report commissioned in the wake of the Columbine
massacre, Dr. David Satcher said authorities can no longer justify a
hard-line approach toward violent teens and adolescents when a vast
body of scientific research suggests there are more effective ways to
deal with the problem.

"The fact is young people transferred to adult criminal courts have
much higher risk of reoffending," the Surgeon-General told a
Washington press conference.

Youth crime should be treated as a health issue, not a justice one,
Dr. Satcher said.

"As a nation, we possess knowledge and have translated that knowledge
into programs that are effective in preventing youth violence," he
added. "Therefore, we cannot afford to waste resources on ineffective
or harmful interventions and strategies."

The voluminous report identifies 27 existing programs that have proven
successful in diverting children away from high-risk behaviour and
reducing violence. Many of those singled out for praise focus on
building confidence in young people and enhancing their
problem-solving skills.

Others, like the popular Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
program, used extensively by the RCMP and other Canadian police
forces, were panned.

"DARE is implemented too early in child development," says the report.
"It is hard to teach children who have not gone through puberty how to
deal with the peer pressure to use drugs that they will encounter in
middle school."

Peer-led programs are also ineffective, the report concludes, saying
children and teens seem to benefit more from having positive role
models to emulate.

Last night, Staff Sergeant Michel Pelletier, the RCMP's national drug
awareness co-ordinator, said DARE, which teaches Grade 5 and 6
students about the dangers of substance abuse, has been an effective
tool.

"The police officers are very motivated to deliver it and communities
ask for it," Staff Sgt. Pelletier said from his Ottawa offices.

However, he added that he is eager to see the full Surgeon-General's
report and find out what can be done to improve drug education in general.

The force's DARE efforts have suffered a black eye in recent weeks
following the well-publicized overdose death of Constable Barry
Schneider, a Vancouver Island co-ordinator with the program.

While youth crime rates have fallen since their 1993 peak, along with
all other types of crime, Dr. Satcher warned Americans should not be
lulled into thinking the problem will eventually fade away. According
to police records, 104,000 people under the age of 18 were arrested in
the United States in 1999 for robbery, rape, aggravated assault and
homicide.

The Surgeon-General's report also takes aim at a number of "myths"
about youth violence, including the pervasive notion there is a new,
more violent breed of teenage "super predators" and the idea that
members of racial minorities are more likely to become involved in
violence.

One subject that was not treated in the final version of the report is
the controversial link between youth crime and depictions of violence
in television, films and video games. Though draft versions of the
study contained a chapter that backed up calls for more government
regulation of the entertainment industry, Dr. Satcher said he decided
to avoid the issue because he feared it would dominate the public debate.

"We did not find the media to be a major factor -- [just] a
factor."

Although exposure to violence on television may increase aggressive
behaviour in the short run, in the long term, its effects are not
significant and difficult to distinguish, Dr. Satcher said.

"As a risk factor for youth violence, the impact of media violence to
date is very small," he said. "Some people may not be happy, but
that's where the science is today."

By using the weight of his office to validate existing research on
exposure to violence, Dr. Satcher is turning what has been a legal
debate into a public-health issue, associating the effects of media
violence with those of cigarette smoking, a source told the Los
Angeles Times.