• Youth violence requires nuanced solutions.violence image by iMAGINE from Fotolia.com
  
  While youth violence peaked in the 1990s, it remains a serious problem in the United States as of 2010. "Getting tough" with kids isn't a solution by itself, with the Surgeon General's office projecting that youths who are processed through the adult court system are far more likely to re-offend than their counterparts in the youth justice system. Youth violence is a problem that impacts young people across the racial spectrum and requires thoughtful solutions.
  
  

Zero Tolerance

• "Zero tolerance" is a discipline policy where students are expelled permanently from school for all infractions of school safety rules. The 1994 Gun Free School Act was passed by Congress, mandating that any student bringing a firearm to school would be expelled for one calendar year. While zero tolerance addresses the problem of youth violence in a very direct way by removing problem children from the learning environment, the zero tolerance policy isn't without its drawbacks. Some examples of zero tolerance gone awry include a California 5-year-old expelled for bringing a razor blade found at a bus stop to his teacher, a Rhode Island 12-year-old expelled for bringing a toy gun to school, and an Ohio 9-year-old suspended for bringing a manicure kit with a small knife to school.
  
  

Counseling

• Individual counseling is a proven way of reducing youth violence. Berkeley, California began The Real Alternatives Project in 1988. This project specifically targeted at-risk youth for individual counseling. The counseling included both traditional counseling for the young person, as well as social services that involved careful monitoring of the youth's behavior, tutoring, mentoring, and summer and part-time employment. Over the course of seven years, the program observed a significant change in the rate of violent behavior and police contact of students who were in counseling.
  
  

After School Programs

• The hours after school are some of the most dangerous for young people, particularly the hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. In addition to the after-school hours being the most dangerous for young people as far as being a victim of a crime, these are also the hours where they are most likely to be involved in a violent crime as a perpetrator. As such, the very act of keeping children off the streets after school can keep them from engaging in violence by keeping them occupied with other, healthier activities.