Statistics Prove Most Kids Good
It’s official. What people have long suspected - and teens have long insisted - has been confirmed: All teenagers are not lawbreaking malcontents bent on destruction.
The truth came out last week; a study showed that 163 youth were responsible for about a fifth of last year’s record number of juvenile arrests. That’s less than 1 percent of the county’s under-18 population.
Police Chief Terry Mangan had the final word. “The fact of the matter is most kids are good, decent kids,” he said. “Some people see anybody between 14 and 21 as bad. That isn’t the case.”
It’s been said before - by youth advocates, teachers, kids themselves. But somehow it means more coming from the guy who oversees the arrests. And with the power of statistics backing him up, perhaps the misguided and increasingly hysterical perception that kids are bad will die.
That would lead Spokane away from stereotypes and hand wringing and toward a needed solution for reaching the few who are causing problems.
The West Central neighborhood is blazing the trail. About 70 people attended a meeting last week to discuss problems with youngsters who turn to violence more and more to solve minor disputes. They’re learning about the causes of violence and talking about how to stop it among their kids. It’s a model all the county could learn from.
Attention needs to be paid, too, to the repeat offenders. Word among kids is that juvie is a joke. Why not break the law when you know you may never serve more than a day or two in jail? The youth facility is so crowded some offenders are given appointments to report for their sentences. In the meantime, sometimes up to six weeks, they’re breaking the law again and again.
County voters have twice turned away ballot requests for funding of a larger juvenile facility. Options are few for law enforcement and the judicial system when there’s no place to put young offenders.
Help could come next week when the state House and Senate are scheduled to vote on a proposal that would provide $4 million for a regional detention center in a vacant building in Medical Lake. It would serve Spokane and 13 other counties.
In the meantime, though, Spokane needs to think of other solutions, too. Officials might take some time to ask the advice of the 40,600 teens who aren’t causing trouble. A great place to start would be the nine winners of the Chase Youth Awards last week.
They’ve got ideas; lots of them. Erin Rice, a sophomore at Shadle Park, has been working for months trying to start a crisis hot line for teens who need help or someone to talk to.
It would be refreshing if someone started talking to them.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Anne Windishar/For the editorial board