The Littleton tragedy and others like it highlight the urgent need for an open dialogue and better communication and coordination among community leaders, parents, teachers, clergy, and youth services organizations to identify and help at-risk youths before they commit horrible crimes. At-risk juveniles need to be identified when they first exhibit patterns of unusual behavior and reach out for attention in abnormal ways.
In my 30 years of experience in juvenile services with the state of Illinois and in the private youth services field, I have witnessed countless youths who have thrown their lives away to crime and violence. On the other hand, I have also been involved in the sort of programs that are effective in drawing kids from a life of crime, and I have identified the warning signs that can help us take notice of at-risk children.
Warning Signs
We all have a responsibility to facilitate on-going discussions on what causes our children to act out in a violent or criminal manner and how to recognize it. We need to start a process where people with the expertise on how to guide our children spread the word about how to identify at-risk behavior and prevent youths from contemplating criminal acts. Over the years I have formed a checklist of warning signs of at-risk youths. A child may be at risk if he or she:
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