After looking at the cases of 10,000 kids arrested over three and a half years, the Long Beach, Calif.,
Press-Telegram identified eight ways to attack juvenile crime.
This is an example of how to cover a story that many journalists just assume cannot be done because of court rules and concerns about juvenile identity.
One of the most important recommendations the paper makes is earlier intervention. The story points out that over and over, the kids who get in the most trouble started running into problems in early grade school -- and it got worse from there.
The paper also found direct and obvious links to juvenile criminals and poor school grades. Nationally, according to the
Press-Telegram, "85 percent of juvenile offenders have trouble reading."
The project, which has lots of multimedia and links to resources, is worth your time and is worth considering taking on in your community. I especially liked the piece
looking at the juvenile justice system through the judge's eyes.
See the paper's entire package
here.
I spent my professional life working with children. I know...
