What is to Blame for Youth Violence?: The Media, Guns, Parenting, Poverty, Bad Programs, Orâ ¦

The first-ever Surgeon General's report on youth violence was recently released by Dr. David Satcher, a Clinton appointee who still holds his position in the Bush Administration. The report hardly made a ripple in the public debate, but what caught my attention was the press reports regarding what wasn't in the report, rather than what was. In a press conference when the report was released, Dr. Satcher was asked about media violence, and he responded …

…increase or decrease the likelihood that a youth will become violent. Media violence is one of them. In a logical world, it would be one that would be relatively easy to change, compared to poverty, family relationships, and school failure. In the U.S., it is one of many that policy makers have not done enough about, leaving parents, teachers, and youth workers with more to do, and less support than they need to succeed.