European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ved in violent crimes aggravated assaults and 1 ,735 robberies in Obi said of Licals Al Iho National Conler for juvenile Justice a i. Privalo research Organ ipalion in Pittsburgh. Said lha lion from 1978 o 1983 the fastest growing areas in juvenile i " Como were Iho youngest ago groups glue the raid of referrals to five info courts Rose 3fl percent in Lor i2ycarold5. 37porccntlor 13 year Olds 22 percent Lor d 1 1 year Olds and 1 5 porch no Lor 10-year-Olds, the youngest ago Tor which figures were available without question All the Biggol increases arc in is Tho Young Ages said Hunter Hurst director of the i a Center. Once you pass 3. All the increases begin to a  explanations Range from increasing drug and gang activities in elementary schools including criminal a Lively involving drugs to the High level of violence in be the society As a whole and to increasing stress on families particularly in poor Urban areas. Many experts contend Hal As crime becomes Mars j prevalent among younger Leen agora a trickle Down Coleci among younger children is almost inevitable nol Only is the age dropping Al which kids Are galling involved in crime bul violent crimes Are  led by younger and younger kids said Daniel p. Dawson chief of the juvenile division Lor the state attorney s office in Orlando Fla. Four of five years ago even iwo or three years ago. It was very unusual to see a child younger than 12 or 13 in the Syslo particularly with multiple  to said. Now you see kids aged 7, s or 9 come in with 3 whole siring of  officials in the new York cily area say the Overall Rale of juvenile crime has been decreasing or several years and some lawyers question whether Shore is any documentable increase in crimes by children. " younger kids Are More Likely to be the victims than the offenders said Janet Fink assistant attorney in charge of the juvenile rights division Al Tho Legal Aid Al society. A s partly a result of demographics but in new York City the juvenile delinquency Rale is Down in Sharp contrast to cases of child abuse and neglect i which have gone off the  Ible but judges and police officiate say Hal while the Overall number of Youthful offenders May not be rising Here is no. In of id Orsan question thai he severely of Iho crimes is increasing James a. Payne chief of family court Lor now York City s Law department said that in 1985 Iho court heard 4.3 percent fewer cases than in 1984. But there was a 7.3 percent increase in serious crimes. A 10year-old is now like a 13-year-old used to be Sard sgt Richard a Paraboschi of Tho Newark Polico Dopart enl s youth Aid Bureau and the 16-year-Olds Are going on 40 " Paraboschi said one of he biggest Cha Nroa in recent years has been Tho dramatic increase in the number of children involved in gun incidents. Judges see Iho same trend when i was first on the Bench in 197b, if i had one gun Case a year it was a lot said Justice Richard he liner of the stale supreme court in new York. Former head of new York s family court. Now from what i hear it s not unusual to have one or iwo in a  Huttner added i Don l think a sea More Young kids than to did but they used to be kids arrested for stealing to. Pikios from a grocery store. Now it s different an 11-or 12-year-old is not big enough to Rob most people bul with a gun it s a different  judge Tom Rio Knoff of Han Antonio Texas. Dis Ricl court who hours Only juvenile cases said he was struck by 1he alarming increase in Young children who have already veered toward persistent criminal behaviour. When you see a 10-year-old in your court you a most wan i to reach out and pal him ant Lell him hell be All right bul these Are exceptionally dangerous people Rickhoff said. I see More and More children of parents who Are mentally ill or on drugs he added. Somo of them Are kids who be dropped Oul of school in the fourth or fifth Grade. If you drop out in the fourth or fifth Grade you re dead in the United  some recent cases Range from a 10-year-Otd baby Sitter in California who strangled a child she was taking care of to a recent incident in new York in which a 12 year old faced 27 charges including first degree rape robbery aggravated assault and grand larceny in a series of crimes committed with another 12-year-old and an adult. Of particular worry nationwide is Iho increasing drug use in elementary schools particularly Iho use of cocaine and of inhalants such As paint or glue officials say that although Ilio National incidence of drug Iju Oil decreasing its use by children is increasing dramatically drug Uso used to Boa decision of adolescence said Hurst of Iho juvenile jus Lico Conler in Pittsburgh. Now it s a fourth Grade  Payne of new Yolk s family court. Said drug use was part of the reason Lor a marked increase in violent activity by younger juveniles in recent years drugs accounted for 4 2 percent of All juvenile Arross m 1935 and 6 8 percent last year he said. We be had almost a 50 percent increase in drug crime Payne continued cocaine is the Mam reason we Are seeing kids As Young As 10 or 11 they can make $800 a week. They Only stay in school because Hal where their constituency is in other areas of the country gangs Are blamed for a major Impact on juvenile crime. Of Licals in California say the average age of gang members is steadily dropping As older children bring in younger ones we have a great number of gang  said Ron w. Hayes Deputy director of prevention and Community corrections for the California department of the youth authority. There Are Aboul 500 gangs and about 50,000 members. You Pul drugs and gang behaviour together and you get violent behaviour " officials say the implications of a lowering of juvenile crime Ages Are extremely troubling. One problem officials aay is Hal the juvenile Justice Syslo is poorly equipped to Deal with Young children committing serious crimes beyond thai any towering of Iho age Al which Young people begin to commit crimes has ominous implications for the Overall crime Rale. One aspect of juvenile crime that is being healed with increasing concern is the racial Issue. The nation s crime rate has dropped since the 1970s, primarily because there Are fewer youths in the prime criminal Ages. Demographers say that the demographic trends Aso becoming More worrisome and Hal the bulk of Iho increase among juveniles will involve those who ate members of rain oily groups. Students conflicts by panels of Peers and faculty most effective programs draw Counse fors from clique in Tho school not just the a students. You leads. Jocks preppie punks a freshman in i said. You need your Feather jackets  Apt Lor suicide threats or other life or death 3ns, peer Counselor generally must Promise no Inge confidences. Bled students Are urged to see the school a Ogist bul the watchword is Best expressed by in a los Angeles High school counselling room you hear Here what you say Here when you Lere. Slays  Many other administrators Michael Blasucci. Inc pal of the Cranford my High school hedged that it s risky leaving 12 Leens alone in  but added to be True peer communication n t have us old Fuddy buddies  peer program in his school part of the freshman Curr Iconium. Consists of 30 classes run by 48 peer s who Are juniors and seniors in Cran Ord As lera advisers keep an Eye on the program by no Inlo Tho classes unannounced and by meeting aders. Pile intensive training in communication skills As curriculum topics Blasucci said peer leaders of experts and Are required to Alert program is in life threatening situations " said this Rule had enabled psychologist and Olheis Vene in a couple of potential suicides and ced pregnancies in which girls were receiving no uary21,19b7 medical care because no one knew Aboul  rather than raise these heavy issues in peer class freshmen tend to drop the sort of hints that such loaders As Heidi Kiebler a 17-year-old senior at Cranford High Are Quick to pick up. So you late to them after  she said and you d be surprised How receptive even the coolest kid can be to a Little  you can t act surprised or give advice added Diane Galbraith also a Cranford senior. All you can do is listen help them o pinpoint the options and make their own  in schools where poor Counselor and mediators Are canc fully trained and supervised reports Are positive. There s some evidence they help reduce violence and discipline problems and ate Well accepted by other kids said Deutsch. But there has t been much systematic research which is one thing to Hope to do in the City schools As we get  besides tall High school Omer new York cily schools in project smart Are far Rockaway and William c Bryant High schools and Horace Greeley Junior High in of ens and Eastern Dis inc and Prospect Heights High schools in Brooklyn. The projects Are run by the nonprofit a Clims services Agency and financed in most cases by Money irom the Board of education s school dropout prevention program. One sign of the mediation projects strength administrators say is Hal some students who go through the process later ask to be mediators. Osteen Ager mediation at american High schools it part of t larger National phenomenon known at the peer movement the stars and stripes Page 15