Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2004 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Lindor Reynolds JAIL THREAT WON'T STOP 'BAD' KIDS THREATENING to put a kid in jail when he's breaking the law is a weak-sister response with no real consequences, says a Canadian expert on teens and trouble. "You can't take a 17-year-old with $10,000 in his pocket from dealing drugs and tell him to shape up or he'll risk his future as a good employee living someplace with a white picket fence," says Dr. Michael Ungar. "He's going to laugh at you. He doesn't expect to get those things anyway. He has an identity. He's already feeling pretty good about himself." Ungar, a social worker and therapist from Halifax, was in town to train staff at McDonald Youth Services, a safe house for needy teens, about how to help troubled kids move from what most of us would call deviant behaviour into more productive choices. This is going to irk those of you who favour locking up the little creeps who steal cars and pull off home invasions, but he says the remand centre is not the answer. "Many kids want to go to jail," he says. "It gives them a sense of belonging. They're getting three meals a day, they've got somewhere to sleep, someone who cares enough about them to explain the rules. They have an identity and that's very important to a teenager." Besides, says Ungar, you've got about three weeks before a kid who is tossed in the clink starts learning how to be a better criminal instead of learning that he shouldn't mug old ladies. "If the kids could find everything they have in jail but on the outside we'd be getting somewhere. Kids want teachers who tell them what to do, parents who set limits. It's a box of sorts and they want to be free within the box." Ungar says kids will come around if we don't label them as trouble-makers, thieves or lacking impulse control. Talk to a kid about her behaviour and how she can make it more positive, he says, and you'll get further than you will by smacking her upside the head. Ungar's theories are echoed by MYS executive director Erma Chapman. "The children who are stealing cars don't have a self-esteem problem. They know how they are and what they're good at. How do you survive in society using the skills you do have? Help that child cope with that day-to-day reality." Tough love, she says, just doesn't work. If this just sounds like molly-coddling -- and it likely will if you've been a victim of crime -- take a look at what we've got now. We can't process kids through the system fast enough. We have few places to put these kids where they'll learn anything more than how to hone their criminal skills. McDonald Youth Services sees thousands of kids each year and has the job of finding programs and placements to keep these kids and the rest of us safe. I might feel differently if my car is stolen or a member of my family victimized but right now I think Ungar's solutions make as much sense as anything else on the table. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake