Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Section: Letters Author: Tom Raymond Jr. PREP SCHOOL VIOLENCE To the Editor: Re "After Dormitory Attacks, Boarding Schools Move to Reduce Risks" (news article, June 17): The real problem is not the breaking of school rules; it is the inability of private schools to differentiate between normal adolescent behavior and nasty interpersonal behavior. Your article describes well-intentioned administrators at Northfield Mount Hermon trying to deal with a minority of troubled teenagers. As a psychotherapist who was until recently affiliated with Northfield Mount Hermon, I saw good teenagers suffer the indignities of urinalysis, phone taps, police-like interrogations and harassment from predatory classmates. Meanwhile, truly disturbed students maneuvered their way through the system. The assumption that casual drug and alcohol use equals pathology has led Northfield Mount Hermon to toss out the very students it needs to embrace and empower the troublemakers it needs to confront. TOM RAYMOND JR. Chapel Hill, N.C., June 22, 2000 - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson