AMERICA STILL ISN'T SAFE FOR KIDS, BUT PROGRAMS COULD CHANGE THAT

CRIME is down all over the country, but that doesn't mean it's a safe
place for children.

Each year 2.8 million children are abused or neglected, according to
the Clinton administration. About one-third of all victims of violent
crime in this country are teenagers. Almost 9 million kids ages 12 to
17 have witnessed violent acts, one survey found.

Children learn what they live, the old saying goes. Studies cited by
the Justice Department found that children who experience violence are
50 percent more likely to be arrested when they are juveniles and 40
percent more likely to be arrested as adults. They also are at greater
risk for substance abuse, mental illness and suicide.

But how do we stop the cycle? How do we prevent children from becoming
victims of violence? People at various levels of government are
tackling these tough questions. Not knowing what approach will work
best, they are trying a little bit of everything.

President Clinton recently announced the Children Exposed to Violence
Initiative, a hodgepodge of programs designed to combat child abuse
and improve treatment of child victims by the courts. Proposition 10,
the state tobacco tax passed in November, will provide money for
programs to help small children who are at risk of abuse. Every county
will decide how to spend its money, so there will be a variety of
programs, such as health screening, subsidized preschools and
parenting classes. At the local level, the Santa Clara County Violence
Prevention Council has proposed a number of ideas for helping children
in violence-prone families. And on Tuesday, the American Academy of
Pediatrics urged doctors who treat kids to take a more active role in
preventing, detecting and reporting child abuse.

Not all the ideas floating around are useful. Some could even be
harmful. The president's program, for example, calls for tougher
penalties for people who expose children to violence and for those who
unintentionally kill or injure children. It's unlikely that such laws
at the federal level will be much help in deterring violence against
kids. They could result in a parent being imprisoned and a family
broken up because of a tragic accident.

Simply getting tough on crime isn't the answer to childhood violence.
The better course is to educate parents and parents-to-be about
alternatives to corporal punishment, and teach kids how to mediate
disputes with their peers. We must provide more substance abuse
treatment and family counseling, and make good, safe child care
available to more families.

All these programs take money, and it will have to come from the state
and federal government, religious organizations, foundations and
community groups.

There are no overnight fixes to the problem of violence against
children. Whatever programs we initiate today won't show clear results
for at least a generation. There's no time to waste.