The Key to Kids NOT Crime

The time and investment going into reacting to gang violence is shocking. People talk about harder sentence and expanding the judicial system in response to these activities. These discussions are reactive with no consideration or value placed on the power of prevention.

The real way to make a societal difference is to prevent criminal behaviours happening in the first place. We know from brain research that what happens in a child's first years of life sets the life trajectory for a person's behaviour, health and overall productivity in society.

Gang violence is related to feelings of belonging, attachment and lifestyle choices. When children have a positive start in life, when their families receive the support they need, when nurturing environments exist across socioeconomic spectrums that support healthy child development - our children will be less likely to grow up into disengaged and disenfranchised youth who seek the connections that gangs offer.

The recently released Kids and Crime report commissioned by the Vancouver Board of Trade (link) re-iterated that “research-based early intervention programs are effective at impacting criminological risk factors associated with crime and thus, they prevent or reduce criminality.”

The costs speak for themselves. It has been documented that when we invest our time and energy and money into very young children, the return on a $1 investment is $16 in savings from our judicial, welfare, education and health systems. The Kids & Crime report claims that for a youth of 18 years who drops out of high school and gets caught up in heavy drug use and criminal activity – it costs society between 2.6 and 5.3 million US dollars.

Aggressive behaviour occurs in children right from birth. The kicks! The bites! The hits! For most children, they learn to control their emotions and use their words before their bodies. These early years are the time to focus on children, allowing them to learn the fundamentals of social interaction. We know that those who fail to learn these lessons – end up in societies troubling statistics. A report titled Early Learning Prevents Youth Violence (link) by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development outlines clearly the role of human aggression and the consequences of uncontrolled behaviour.

Yes we need to be mindful of those who already have gone down a destructive path in life - but NOT without looking "upstream" to find ways to prevent the next round of children and youth falling into the same traps. Where does it start? At the very beginning - with families and the communities that support them to raise healthy children and youth that will make positive life choices because they have grown up feeling valued and with a sense of belonging.

Village Raising Question

What are your reactions to the Kids and Crime or Early Learning Prevents Youth Violence reports?

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