Trouble Teens Stats

Arresting Repeat Teen Crime and Making Schools Bully-Free

In the next hour, America's law enforcement officers will arrest approximately 250 teens, more than 2 million teens in a year. Youth-gang related homicides are up over 40 percent from 1999 to 2003, the latest year for which data are available. Law enforcement leaders recommend a one-two punch to address teen and gang crime: tough and close supervision combined with research-tested interventions that pull kids away from violence.

This "carrot and stick" police and community collaboration closely tracks high-risk kids and swiftly prevents future gang violence and links offenders to neighborhood services so kids get off drugs, stay in school and find a job. In Boston, a citywide effort like this resulted in a two-thirds cut in youth homicides.

The second punch is to use successful treatment programs such as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), which provides structure, discipline, and support for chronic teen offenders and their families. It works on an individual basis with teenaged offenders to change their behavior, break the negative peer connections that lead to crime and move them back into classrooms and jobs. Parents are also coached to better manage their teenager's behavior. Studies found the program cuts repeat arrests by as much as half and saves the public an estimated $24,000 in future costs and less earnings.

Each year, more kids are bullied than the populations of Philadelphia, Columbus and Memphis combined. Many bullies grow up to commit crimes - one study showed that four of every 10 boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24. A program developed in Norway produced a 50 percent reduction of bullying there and a 20 percent reduction when it was replicated in South Carolina.