Youth and violence

Turning around troubled lives and reducing youth violence are among society’s more daunting tasks. The conditions under which a child is raised, including deprivation and abuse, have a powerful influence on personality and disposition. But life is less about what is done to us than what we do with it. Most people raised in deplorable social conditions do not become deplorable people. Criminal or immoral conduct is never inevitable.

Josephson Institute's Youth and Violence report describes the problem of violence among young people and what CHARACTER COUNTS! is doing about it.

CHARACTER COUNTS! violence checklist

CHARACTER COUNTS! doesn't merely cut youth violence. It also narrows the paths leading to it and widens those leading away. The checklist below shows how:

CHARACTER COUNTS! reduces actual violence

  1. CC! cut violent school-related crimes in St. Johns County, Florida, by 81% over five years.
    • In next-door Flagler County — almost identical to St. Johns but without CC! — these crimes fell only 16%.
  2. CC! cut the use of physical force by students in response to insults by 33% over three years in South Dakota [South Dakota State University study of up to 8,000 middle and high school students].
    • 18% of teachers saw fewer fights after one year, and 30% after three.
  3. CC! reduced suspensions for fighting by about two-thirds at Glenn Westlake Middle School in Lombard, Illinois, over five years.
  4. CC! cut the incidents of violence from 91 to 26 in the first 20 days of successive years at Garfield Middle School in Albuquerque. [Source: Then-principal Louis Martinez]
  5. CC! cut the number of fights from 25 to 6 in four months at Bel-Air Elementary School in Albuquerque. And the number stayed low.

CHARACTER COUNTS! cuts the risk factors for violence

"Risk factors" tend to predict violence. Three of the four most important for children aged 12-14 are:

The fourth is gang membership, for which we have no data.

Criminal acts

  1. CC! almost eliminated recidivism at Tulare County Probation Youth Facility in California. Just 8% of the youths in the modified “boot camp” committed crimes in post aftercare, compared to a national rate of 72% — an amazing result.
    • Only 30% of youths committed crimes in residence — less than half the national average of 64%.
  2. CC! cut crime among South Dakota middle and high school students. Those who said they had:
    • Broken into another’s property dropped 50%.
    • Used a fake ID dropped 56%.
    • Taken something without paying dropped 46%.
    • Defaced or vandalized property dropped 46%.
    • Drunk alcoholic beverages dropped 31%.
    • Taken illegal drugs dropped 32%.
  3. CC! cut school-related crime among young people in St. Johns County, Florida:
    • All such crimes fell 74%, while in next-door Flagler County they fell only 9%.
    • Crimes against property fell 83%, while in Flagler they fell 10%.
    • Larceny fell 89%, but in Flagler only 12%.
    • Vandalism fell 69%, while in Flagler it fell 53%.
    • Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug offenses fell 70%, while in next-door Flagler they fell 57%.
    • Disorderly conduct fell 89%, but in Flagler only 5%.
  4. CC! cut youth crime in the town of Lombard, Illinois. Lombard police report that from 1997 to 2002, offenses typical of youths decreased. Crime reports of:
    • Graffiti fell from 115 to 45 (61%).
    • Curfew violation fell from 50 to 16 (68%).
    • Truancy fell from 51 to 19 (63%).
    • Marijuana use or possession from 109 to 89 (18%).
    • Illegal alcohol use or possession from 102 to 60 (41%).
  5. CC! reduced crime in the Maricopa County Juvenile Court System in Arizona. “I was amazed. Our incidents in detention have gone down and I attribute that to the implementation of the CHARACTER COUNTS! curriculum.” — System director Cherie Townsend

Weak links to conventional peers

Teachers and administrators repeatedly say CC! enhances the social climate. "It's like night and day," says Linda Jones, who ran CC! in the Dallas public schools. "The whole emotional atmosphere of the building changes. It becomes a kinder, gentler place." In other words, more kids are forging better ties with each other.

  1. CC! improved students' interactions in Nebraska, where in a 2000 survey of teachers:
    • 61 percent saw students help each other more frequently.
    • 55 percent saw fewer instances of students blaming others.
    • 50 percent saw more instances of students being truthful.
    • 85 percent saw an overall positive difference in children.
  2. CC! improved students' interaction in South Dakota. Teachers saw the change:
    • 40% of teachers said students treated each other better after one year, and 52% said so after three
    • 34% of teachers said students helped each other more often after one year, and 51% said so after three.
    And students who said they had:
    • Teased someone because of race or ethnicity dropped 45%.
    • Received a detention or suspension dropped 28%.
  3. CC! increased the students in extracurricular activities by 58% at Glenn Westlake Middle School in Lombard, Illinois, over five years.
    • In addition, suspensions fell 63%, and repeat suspensions fell 53%.
  4. CC! cut suspensions 94% — from 32 to 2 — in seven years at Duranes Elementary School in Albuquerque. "Good behavior has become the norm and misbehavior the exception," said principal Gabe Garcia. [Source: The U.S. Department of Education’s Community Update, October, 2001]
  5. CC! cut discipline referrals 75% at Easton Elementary (grades 2-5) in Easton, Maryland, over the four years.
  6. CC! slashed discipline referrals by 92 percent in two years at the Thomas J. Pappas Regional Elementary School for children of homeless families in Phoenix.
  7. CC! cut discipline referrals 71% — from 500 to 145 — in one year at Atlantis Elementary in Cocoa, Florida
  8. CC! cut discipline referrals 48% in one year at North Ridge Elementary, in Lubbock, Texas. The number fell from 425 to 220. [Patricia Cloud Duttweiler and Marilyn Madden, “The District That Does What’s Best for Kids: Frenship ISD,” a report for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Winter 2001]

Ties to antisocial or delinquent peers

The Surgeon General’s Report says, "Young people whose attitudes are antithetical to violence are unlikely ... to associate with peers who are delinquent or violent." Since CHARACTER COUNTS! reduces delinquency and violence, it almost certainly makes students' attitudes more antithetical to violence. Thus it reduces ties to delinquent peers.

  1. CC! increased the number of students in extracurricular activities by 58% at Glenn Westlake Middle School in Lombard, Illinois, over five years. This fact strongly suggests greater sociality, that is, fewer ties to antisocial peers.
  2. Almost all the other evidence — the drops in violence, crime and suspensions, and the improvements in helping and commitment to school — supports this factor.

CHARACTER COUNTS! strengthens the protective factors against violence

The Surgeon General’s Report proposes two factors that protect against violence:

Intolerance of deviance

An intolerant attitude toward deviance means "a commitment to traditional values and norms as well as disapproval of activities that violate these norms." [2001 Surgeon General's Report]

This factor is the heart of CC!, and the key to its success. CHARACTER COUNTS! strongly emphasizes basic, traditional Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

  1. CC! improved all six Pillars in Louisiana students, according to a survey of 735 teachers. The following percentages of teachers reported "some" to "very much" student improvement in:
    • Trustworthiness: 78.4%
    • Respect: 78.4%
    • Responsibility: 79.5%
    • Fairness: 77.2%
    • Caring: 81.6%
    • Citizenship: 74.7%
  2. CC! improved student behavior in all 24 categories measured — four for each Pillar of Character — in a two-year University of Virginia study. For instance, "Set a good example for others to follow" fell under responsibility, and "Do what you say you will do" under trustworthiness.
    • The scientists said CC! "is making a significant impact in elementary schools in increasing behaviors that reflect positive character development."

Commitment to school

  1. CC! improved test scores in Atlantis Elementary in Cocoa, Florida.
    • The percentage of students scoring level 3 or above (on an ascending 1-5 scale) on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test rose from 45% to 78% in one year.
  2. CC! led to changes in South Dakota which demonstrate a greater commitment to school. Student who said they had:
    • Cheated on an exam dropped 30%.
    • Missed class without a legitimate excuse dropped 39%.
    • Failed to get schoolwork done on time dropped 24%.
    • Lied to a teacher dropped 35%.
  3. CC! raised attendance from 75-80% to 95% in two years at the Thomas J. Pappas Regional Elementary School for children of homeless families in Phoenix. This figure is remarkable, since homeless kids often have trouble getting to school.
    • "CHARACTER COUNTS! has changed the whole atmosphere of our campus," says Principal Dina Vance.
  4. CC! increased by 58% the number of students in extracurricular activities at Glenn Westlake Middle School in Lombard, Illinois, over five years.
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