Express and News from San Antonio, Texas • Page 84

San Antonio July 9, 1972 Page 7-H Criminal Children: A Growing Menace By Jon Katz (C) WASHINGTON POST SERVICE WASHINGTON-The Philadelphia patrolman stood at the end of the garbage-strewn alley, his service revolver pointed straight ahead, sweat stains spreading under his armpits. "Good grief." he muttered at the 10- year-old child who stood, glaring angrily, (ive feet in front of him. The child's arms were high in the air; a homemade zip gun was lying on the ground. The patrolman, a member of the Police Department's gang control unit, had been driving an unmarked car when he saw the boy run up behind an opposing gang member, point the gun at (he back of his head, and fire twice. (The wounded gang member survived).

THE SHOOTING was one of the estimated 18,000 major crimes children under the age of 15 will commit throughout the country this year. The crimes are, by no means, all like the one above. It) Washington last December, four hoys, aged 9 to 13, were charged in the rape of a 7-year-old girl. Three months later, two 11-year-old boys and a 10-year-old companion were charged with rape and sodomy in connection with the abduction ana sexual attacks on a 10-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother. In San Francisco, in April, a 7-ycar- old boy admitted he and his 10-year-old brother abducted a 20-month-old baby and left him to die, lashed to a wooden cross in a dingy basement after the baby was bludgeoned with a stick.

A month later, in Washington, a 6- year-old boy and two friends admitted that they had, on two or three successive weekends smashed into a day eare center, slaughtered pet animals, strewn paint about and wrecked furniture and equipment. WHILE CHILD ABUSE (the beating, abandonment and neglect of children) is a widely documented problem, the phenomenon of children doing Ihe shooting, robbing, and other acts of violence has drawn little attention. The National Institutes of. Health has done no studies or other research specifically into the problem of child violence, a spokesman said. And NIH officials, along with area psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, could name only one or two authorities who they said had enough expertise to comment on it.

Yet, according to the FBI's uniform i reports, children under 15 committed 17,283 major crimes in America in 1970. Of those crimes, 1,395 were committed by 17 and 12-year-olds; 3,787 by 12-year-olds; 12,101 by 13-and 14-year- olds, and 10,427 by 15-year-olds. THE PHI STATISTICS, according to officials in (he U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, show that arrests of children under 15 for violent crimes increased 166.8 per cent from 1960 to 1970, although the rate of Special Report on Young Lawbreakers increase has declined in recent years. Police officials and statisticians caution that the seemingly dramatic increase is misleading.

Incidents of child violence, they say, used to be hushed up, and, except for the most violent and serious cases, ended up in the hands of social workers and familiesralher than in Ihe courts or newspapers. 1W. ALBERT SOLNIT, head of Yale University's Child Study Center and one of the foremost child care specialists in the nation, said he (ends to support that view and is "skeptical of claims that this sort of violence is dramatically increasing." Dr. Solnit said causes or possible causes of child violence are as complicated and varied as the individual home or environment. "In some cases, the child may have been abused, and Ibis may manifest i in adolescence or young adulthood, a sort of 'do unto others as has been done unto you' philosophy." In other cases, said Dr.

Solnit, children may see violence in their environment "and react to it in some way. Violence can become a way of life." Washington police say child violence is nota significant crime problem in Ihe District of Columbia, although it increased two-fold betsveen 1969 and 1970. In 19G9, Ihere were 04 arrests for robberies and holdups, aggravated assault and battery, arson, sexual assault, assault, and sodomy among youths 11 and younger, police figures show. In 1970, the number of arrests jumped to 128. In 1971, there were 121 arrests for major crimes in that age group.

Since January of Ibis year, police statistics show 41 arrests. LT. J.K. I deputy commander of the youth division, said one reason the district has been spared the widespread child violence (hat cities like Chicago and Philadelphia have experienced is that the police move quickly against gangs, one of the leading contributors to child violence statistics. Lt.

Jenkins said most crimes involving children under 12 here are vandalism, burglary and larceny and that the department does not consider child violence a serious problem. "It's mostly a question of crimes or assaults against each other occasionally there's an attack against a school teacher, but actual violence committed by children isn't a widespread thing." Sgl, Edward Smith, a veteran of 22 years in the youth division hero, said he "thinks child violence can be traced to a number of things. For example, "a child could pick up a nickname and react to it if he's fat they'll call him Tubby' or while another child can have a defect and be called 'Crip' or Smith said. "Oilier theories emphasize Hit- inner-city or the ghetto or the family's economic stability," he added. SMITH OFFERS another point of view that some child experts view as significant.

With the emergence of thousands of youngsters into society after the post World War II "baby boom," incidents of violence increased dramatically, partially because of the- greater of i overcrowding of schools, and society's lack of preparedness, "Now, with numbers of children declining, you'll probably find a decline in Ibis sort of violence, loo," he postulates. Dr. Solnit said it is impossible to pinpoint exact causes of violence among children, or for that matter, among adults. Scientific studies have suggested everything from infant body contact to breast-feeding to urban noise and overcrowding as factors leading to a "aggression," the term psychologists prefer to "violence." Violent children fall into two categories, Dr. Solnit said, the treatable and the unbeatable.

He said society should move quickly to study children involved in violent acis and begin treatment for those can be helped. FOR THOSK WHO seem incurable, he suggests they be placed in an environment where they can be helped as much ns possible without posing a danger to society. Among things that have been widely suggested by psychologists as a trigger for violence in children is television. The Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Behavior concluded in a study that televised violence could bring out violenceor aggravate it in children who tend toward aggressiveness. "It would be i i to overstate the pervasiveness of television in (he United States," said the report.

"Most children watch at least two hours Dr. Solnit said he agrees (hat television can be a factor in child violence, but he doesn't view it as a sole cause. Demos Are a Strange Breed MIAMI BEACH--Well, here we arc in tinsel city, eyes bulging and heart throbbing the way they do only at on illegal cockfight or a a i championship brawl. We like the smell and the sight of blood, and when the Democrats assemble in convention there is always (he expectation of entertaining carnage. The people gathering here are not the old Democrats.

Many arc interlopers, attending their first convention. It is their very presence that carries Ihe promise of mayhem beyond anything these Iradi- tionally warring politicians ever put on before. It used to be said that (he Republicans a "death wish." They were slaves to (heir ideological opposition to the New Deal and the subsequent policies and programs that have made this superficially a welfare (I say superficially because, in almost every government a we have that purports to help Ihe poor mas- ses really winds up fattening the bank accounts of the falcats and the special interests.) So Ihe Republicans kept nominaling losers, preferring ideology (o a prospect of victory, until 1952 when a convention coup slipped Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in ahead of Sen. Robert Taft.

A lot of "ideology" has not overrun the Democrats. It is an ideology that says the old power bases of the party are bad. The word is out that organized labor has become fat and contented and conservative, anti-black and pro-war. So the heck with George Meany. So a group of blacks boasts (hat, "for the first time in 40 years," they, rather than (he AFL- CIO, delivered the delegates needed to win nomination.

The new i says that party bosses and elected officials have no right to call the tune certainly not any more than a housewife in Denver or a truck driver in Buffalo. So to heck with i a Mayor Richard Daley if he thinks he can still sit in secret and decide who can be a convention delegate. To heck with Ihe congressmen and the oilier mayors and Ihe ward bosses and all (hose other characters who have assumed i divine right to take over (hat stockyards emporium in Chicago or the Kowart is former chief of the U.S. information Ilis cal- tniin appctirs in Sun Antonio News. Cow Palace in San Francisco or Convention Hall in Philadelphia and decide the future of the Democratic party.

So the reformers have come to Miami Beach. And it's not going to be bad for the eyeballers. There'll be a lot more females, and they'll be younger! And this convention is going to have that "American melting pot." look with blacks, Mexican-Americans, Hicans represented as they never have been before. What we are seeing here is an attempt to revitalize the Democratic party by conferring special attention and dignity on (he groups that heretofore have had little power among Democrats and are considered still to be anathema to the Republicans. The question that i a this gathering is this: "Maybe it's good ideology, but is it good polities'!" Theso delegates come here to face a brutally divisive dispute over the California delegation with a sort of ultimatum from frnntrnmier McGovern that, if they sustain a Credentials Committee decision to lake 151 delegates from him and thus deny him the nomination, he will run as an independ- enl.

They face (he question of sustaining a Credentials Committee decision to throw out Daley and 58 Illinois delegates in favor of a group largely supportive of McGovern. That would fit beautifully the "reform" ideology, but it also might fit beautifully into President Nixon's plan to make an Illinois victory a major factor in his re-election. Democrats from all over the country rehash the California brawl, the Illinois scrap, the fight over Mississippi and other credentials confrontations, and they say over and over: "I wonder if we can ever put it all back together and have a chance of beating Nixon." The detached observer measures the anger of one group, the passionate commitment of another, and is forced toward the conclusion that the Democrats can't possibly put it all back together. Some of these new delegates never beard that "politics is the art of the possible." To Ihem, "compromise" is the dirtiest of words. The McGovern fanatics will seltlc for no one but McGovern except that some might be pacified if Sen.

Edward Kennedy were dragooned into the nomination. But, i I McGovern's encouragement, most will try to sabotage any Democrat who wins the nomination other than McGovern. For all their misgivings about McGovern's programs, neither Humphrey, Muskie, Jackson nor Chisholm will try to undermine McGovern if he gets the nomination. The forces of Gov. George Wallace might.

But, even in this day of "reform" you do not spit in Meany's eye or kick Daley in the derriere withoui expecting retribution. The Democrats would appear to be in hopeless trouble without McGovern, and in hapless competition with him. But Democrats are a strange breed. Cosmic forces seem to save them from each other. This observer watches the blood-letting wilh the expectation a once the daggers are pulled out, the political su- lirrcs fixed, the bandages applied, this shambles of a parly will still slagger forlh and give the Republicans a royal race for (he White House.

'It only hurts when I laugh The People's Choice By Art Ruchwalcl WASHINGTON--Everyone a Ills own scenario for this week's Democratic National Convention. The way i have been going with the parly, one scenario has as much validity as the next. This is the one that I have written and if it comes true, remember, you read it here. It is Ihe fourth day of Ihe convention and (he Democrats have been unable to decide on a presidential candidate. The fight to seat delegations has taken up three days and those people who were ruled ineligible have refused to give up their seals (o those who were officially designated as delegates to the convention.

Almost every state delegation has two people sitting in every chair. No one dares leave the floor for fear that someone will grab his seat. When someone tries to speak he is hooted down hy the opposition faction. Larry O'Brien, the chairman of the party, has the podium ringed with the National Guard so no one can grab the microphone. The nomination speeches a not been a but Ihe candidates have been nominated--McGovern, Humphrey, Wallace, Chisholm, Jackson and Muskie.

There have been no demonstrations for the candidates in the hall because everyone is afraid if he gets up and marches they won't let him back in his section again. On the first ballot McGovern picked up 1,234 voles, well shy of the 1,509 he tfuchiutitil is a nationally Jitiinorist. His wetktlay column pcars in the San Antonio AVruj. 'You'-Statements vs. T-Statements By S.I.

11 ay ika a SAN FRANCISCO--What do you do when your 5 a keeps pestering you to play wilh him when you are trying to relax, after a hard day at shop or office, wilh the evening paper? He pulls on your arm, climbs into your lap, crumples Ihe paper. After what you've been through (hat day, the last thing you want (o do is play. Much of (he literature of child psychology, including such books as Margaret i justly famous "The Rights of Infants," slrcsses the needs and rights of children--so that we are sometimes left with (he impression (hat parents have no rights at all, However, as Thomas Gordon says In "Parent Effectiveness Training" (Peter Wyrien, a do have needs and rights. They have their own lives to live, their own purposes to fulfill. Hence parents need effective ways to deal with children's behavior that in-, tcrfercs with parental needs.

Of course you can meet Ihe problem head on, as most parenls do, with such commands as "Slop wrinkling the paper," or "I'm going to get real angry if you don't get out from under my feet," or "Don't ever interrupt a person when he's reading," nr "Why don't you go outside and play?" 'Die first message commands him lo do what he clearly docs not want to do. The second threatens him. The third enunciates a general principle (hat you would not he willing to live by yourself. Thn fourth offers him a solution--your solution, not his. Dr.

Gordon Is quite critical about this matter ot "sending solutions." Parents Dr. Hayakatoa president of San Francisto State College. may ask, "What's wrong with sending solutions? After all, isn't the child causing me Ihe problem?" Yes, he is. However, 'ren, no less than adults, resist being what lo do. Also, Ihey may not like your i Furthermore, sending your solution communicates another message, "I don't trust you to select a satisfactory solution hy yourself." When you tell (he child your solulion, you are calling (he shots.

You are taking control. You are leaving him out of it. Essentially, there is a problem here of common courtesy--a courtesy which we know we owe to our friends and neighbors, but which we also owe to our own children. If a friend were visiting your home happened (o put Ms feet on the rungs of a treasured, antique chair, you surely would not say, "Get your feet off that chair this minute!" or "You should never put your feet on somebody's antique chair." No, we treat our friends with more respect. We might say, "I'm embarrassed to mention this, but I just got (hat chair.

It's an American 18th century antique and I'm terribly afraid of getting it scratched." A message like this does not send a solulion. It is not a "you-mcssage." It is an Yon-messages take the form, "You stop I a or "Don't you ever or "You should know better a or "Why don't you The you-mcssage, by stating or implying a direct criticism of the person addressed, is in its very nature discourteous. when the parent simply tells the child how (he child's behavior is affecting him, the message becomes an I-message: "I cannot rest when someone is crawling on my lap," or "I'm tired and I really don't feel like playing." Actually, "You are. being a pest" is a very poor way of communicating the parent's feelings of fatigue. "I want to rest" communicates what Ihe parent is i The you-message pest, docs not send the essential message, which is about the parent's needs --which arc (he central problems at the moment.

"You are a pest" is a statement (hat cannot be understood by Ihe child as anything but a negative evaluation of i "I want to rest" is a stalemcnt of fact abmil Ihe parent. It is an I-statcmcnt. It is not likely lo provoke a child's resistance and rebellion. Telling someone how you feel especially when Ihe feelings are negative is much less threatening than accusing him of causing those negative feelings. needed.

The rest were split between the other candidates with the uncommitted refusing lo vole for anyone. The second and Ihird ballot found no one i By the tenlh ballot of Wednesday's all-night session, the convention was hopelessly deadlocked. The stale delegations caucused right on the floor, trying to get people to change their minds. But it was impossible. On NBC, John Chancellor and David Brinklcy became short-tempered and refused to talk to each (her.

Howard K. Smith and Harry Reasi on ABC were also not speaking lo each other, and on CBS, Walter Cronkite wasn't talking to himself. was obvious lo everyone in and out of the convention hall that a compromise candidate had lo be found--one who had no! already been nominated. lint who? The Demticralic Parlv load; rs call a recess behind the podium. They argue and thrash il out for several ikours.

The only man wliose name is proposed as the compromise candidate is very famous, but controversial, figure on Ihe American scene. He lias announced many times that lie is not a candidate Cor the Presidency or (he Vice Presidency, and has said under no conditions would he accept a a Yet, Ihe leaders argue he is the one person who can save (he party. This young man, whose name had been associaled with a very embarrassing incident, is a household word now, Because of the deadlock at the convention, he is the only one who can possibly beat Nixon in November. The compromise candidate is not at Ihe convention. He has purposely stayed away to people would believe he svas not interested in Ihe nomination.

O'Brien puts in a call lo him. Everyone, in (urn, gels on Ihe phone and tells him be has to be the candidate. The compromise candidate speaks to George McGovern, Humphrey, Muskie and Wallace. They urge him to run. The candidate finally agrees to a draft and says he will take (he next plane to Miami.

And lhat's how Bobby Fischer, the, U.S. chess champion, became lite Democratic presidential nominee for 1972..