In the first book to help parents truly understand youth
violence and stop it before it explodes, national expert Dr. James Garbarino reveals how
to identify children who are at risk and offers proven methods to prevent aggressive
behavior.
After more than a decade of relentless increase in the urban war zones of large cities,
violence by young boys and adolescents is on the rise in our suburbs, small towns, and
rural communities. Twenty-five years as a psychologist working in the trenches with such
children has convinced James Garbarino that boys everywhere really are angrier and more
violent than ever before. In light of the recent school-based shootings, it's now clear
that no matter where we live or how hard we try as parents, chances are our children are
going to school with troubled boys capable of getting guns and pulling triggers. Beyond
the deaths and debilitating injuries that result from this phenomenon are the staggering
psychological costs -- children who are afraid to go to school, teachers who are afraid of
their students, and parents who fear for their children's lives.
Building on his pioneering work, Garbarino shows why young men and boys have become
increasingly vulnerable to violent crime and how lack of adult supervision and support
poses a real and growing threat to our children's basic safety. For these vulnerable boys,
violence can become normal, the "right thing to do." Terry, one of the boys
Garbarino interviews, says "I just wasn't gonna take it anymore. I knew I would have
to pay the price for what I did, but I didn't care." We've seen how the deadly
combination of ignoring excessively bad behavior and allowing easy access to guns has
destroyed families in Pennsylvania, Oregon, New York, Washington, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
Fortunately, parents can spot troubled boys and take steps to protect their families from
violence if they know what signs to look for -- lack of connection, masking emotions,
withdrawal, silence, rage, trouble with friends, hypervigilance, cruelty toward other
children and even animals -- all warning signs that every parent and peer can recognize
and report.
Dr. Garbarino, whom Dr. Stanley Greenspan of the National Institute of Mental Health
hails as "one of the true pioneers in our understanding of the inner life of our
youth," addresses the wide range of issues that boys of every temperament and from
every background may have to confront as they grow and develop. By outlining the steps
parents, teachers, and public officials can take to keep all children safer, Dr. Garbarino
holds out hope and solutions for turning our kids away from violence, before it is too
late. This is one of the most important and original books ever written about boys.
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