MANY ANSWERS OFFERED TO REDUCE YOUTH VIOLENCE

In his June 23 Viewpoint column, "Battle for kids is fight for all,"
Editorial Page Editor David Kushma focused on what "we" are going to do
about the epidemic of youth violence. However, he missed, or avoided, the
main reason for child violence, drug abuse and many other problems: no
father in the home.

More than 70 percent of babies born in high-crime areas in Memphis have been
to single mothers. The reason there are no fathers is that the single women
having babies apparently put personal pleasure above personal
responsibility.

Just as Kushma's column didn't place blame, neither do community or national
leaders. There is no longer a stigma attached to being an unwed mother, and
many of them have three or more children. Instead, leaders blame politics,
lack of money or poor schooling. The sad thing is, they all know the
problem, but are afraid of being labeled insensitive or of losing votes or
their positions of power.

What can "we" do? We are doing plenty. Our taxes pay for increased police,
public schools, child care, housing and food.

What can you do? How about stating the facts and stating the obvious: No
father means no discipline, and no discipline means crime. Local and
national leaders should denounce out-of-wedlock sex, now, face to face with
kids. No excuses. No placing blame on external factors.

Getting married to someone you love before having children won't guarantee
good results, but it puts the odds in those kids' favor.

Mark Fillion

Bartlett

The root cause of the violence that permeates our community begins at home.
Sooner or later, children being cared for by a drug-dealing grandmother will
be doing violence themselves ("Shot-up home previously visited by guns and
drugs," June 15). She and her ilk are the ones who send children to school
with no preparation, no breakfast or lunch, no values and no attendance to
their needs.

No wonder there is so much violence in the schools: That's what children see
at home. The proliferation of illegal firearms coincides with the
deterioration of the family.

Talk to any successful black athlete and you will find that behind him was a
strong mother or grandmother who worked hard, instilled a good work ethic in
him and brooked no nonsense. These people are successful because they had
good values at home - not school, but home. Home is where it begins, and in
Jessica Borner's case, where it ended.

The outcome is the sole responsibility of the home, whether there is a
single parent or two parents. But it seems that more and more the caregiver
claims victimhood and prefers the easy way out, no matter the consequences.

It's time for parents to take a step in the right direction and stop blaming
society.

Frankie Guinle

Memphis

The importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use
cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also have been
shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most
prone to get into trouble.

For drug education to be effective it has to be credible. The most popular
recreational drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior
is often overlooked by parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more
lives every year than all illegal drugs combined.

For decades drug education has been dominated by sensationalist programs
such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE). Good intentions are no
substitute for effective education. Every independent, methodologically
sound evaluation of DARE has found the program to be either ineffective or
counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students
who realize they are being lied to about marijuana often make the mistake of
assuming that harder drugs such as methamphetamines are relatively harmless
as well.

This is a recipe for disaster. Drug education programs must be reality-based
or they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among
their peers.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance

Washington

If we really want to stop the killings, the drug trafficking and the crack
houses, it's easy. Sentence any one convicted of a drive-by shooting,
whether they kill anyone or not, to the gas chamber in 90 days, no ifs, ands
or buts. If a person is arrested three times for selling drugs, send them to
the gas chamber in 90 days. It wouldn't take but two or three such sentences
to stop the killings and the drug dealers on every street corner.

If we really want our kids to live and be able to play safely in the front
yard, take a couple of lives and save hundreds, maybe thousands of good
people, kids and possibly yourself.

R. K. Wimbley

Memphis