B youth Hrolence Number of assaults have F risen ‘dramatically’ Jolanda Waskito Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver residents worried about youth crime filled a school meeting room at March 3 to hear an expert on the subject. Dr Raymond Corrado told the 200 gathered at Carson Graham Secondary that the number of crimes committed by young people has remained fairly constant over the past 10 vears, but the incidents are becoming more violent. The Simon Fraser University professor of crimi- nology said the number of youths charged in B.C. with violations under the Criminal Code has remained relatively steady: 629 in 1986; 713 in 1991 and 517 in 1996. The number of assaults by young, people has “gone up dramatically,” said Corrado. “Another phenomenon is the use of weapons,” Corrado said. Although most youth crime in B.C. is committed by males, Dr. Corrado pointed out that there is an alarming number of females charged with offences against people: 822 in 1996 compared with 213 in 1986. Murder, however, is still a rare phenomenon in Canada, Corrado said. “There were 40 youth homicides across Canada last year and only a handful im B.C. We are nowhere near the homicide rates in the U.S.” Why young people commit crime is still an open question, Corrado told the meeting. “We really don’t know why young people commit crime,” he said, but both nature and Drug charge laid A heroin transaction allegedly took place on Feb. 19 near Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver between a Burnaby man and an undercover Mountie. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, a 21-vear- okt man) drove over from Vancouver to sella half gram of heroin to the Mountic near the theatre at 23rd Street and Lonsdale Avenue, The alleged drug transactions was arranged through =a cell phone number in what police calla “dial-a-dope” situation. Police say they searched the man’s car and seized an additional three grams of heroin and six grams of cocaine. Police say jewelry, believed to be stolen, was also found in the man’s car. Benjamin T. Hart faces charges of trafficking. —Anna Marie DPAugelo DR. Raymond Corrado shared some theories on youth violence. nurturing play a role. A violent: youth — often comes from a family in a lower socio-economic group. The young person has like- ly suffered some form of mal- treatment, either physically or mentally, he explained. “Any family under severe stress, like poverty, increases the likelihood .. . it definitely affects it,” Corrado said. Lack of good parenting skills was also cited as another cause. “Nurturing is crucial. Ifa baby isn’t held and properly nurtured, the psychological impact can be extremely dam- aging.” Cerrado also cited genetics as a cause of youth violence. He said that the “transmission of generations of poor parent- ing genes” has been explored in recent research. Each person is born with certain personality traits, but some traits can catise a person to lean towards violence, said Corrado. He said research — has shown the following traits, which can be detected in chil- dren as early as age three, can indicate thar a child) can become violent: aggression, unsociability, — beiligerence, quick temper, tearlessness, impulsiveness, non-reflective: ness and anger. A child's inability to express what's bothering or angering him or her, as well as low levels of the hormone serotonin are also indicators that the child may become violent. A five-year-old child who cruelly beats up a cat and has no remorse for hurting it, for example, has violent tenden- cies which can be a signal to furure psychopathic behav- ior. Is there a cure? Corrado said that a child can change behavior if he or she is nurtured and if there is carly intervention. Learning to channel aggression (s important. “You can get them into sport -—- maybe hockey or football — where they can smash into other people,” he suggested. Laying down the rules is also important. “Discipline has to be con- sistent, mild, and proportion- are to what thev’re doing,” he said. “If you let a pvo-vear-old run around and throw things and vou're laughing and the next time they do it and vou slap them, that’s inconsis- tent.” When it comes to the dis- ciplinary action of the justice system, Corrado. said that “nothing, has shown that arresting the kids will work.” He says intervening at the 10 to TT year age range can make the difference. The ear- lier, the better. The session was organized by the North Vancouver Parent Advisory Council as part of Education Week. 50% Off ¥ Wood Blinds Choose from our entire selection of wood venetian blinds from our MARK ASPEN collection. 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