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REMARKS BY DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Place: JOHN JAY COLLEGE CONFERENCE, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Date: June 22, 1998

The warm reception I've received in Budapest reminds me of a remark made by the father of Hungarian democracy, Lajos Kossuth, nearly 150 years ago. After Kossuth's struggle to liberate Hungary was brutally crushed, the United States invited him to visit our country. Everywhere he went on his speaking tour, Kossuth received a hero's welcome. He told the people of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that he knew he would meet with two living principles in the United States: Hospitality and freedom. These are exactly the same things that I have met here in Budapest. They also remind me of my youth. As a child in Cleveland, Ohio, I remember the wonderful hospitality of my Hungarian neighbors-and the wonderful smells of their kitchens. Most of those families had fled Hungary after its struggle for freedom was again crushed-by Soviet tanks in 1956. But those families enriched the community...and our young Hungarian friends enriched our lives. We taught them American slang. They taught us how to play real "football."

Those early encounters left me with a great admiration for this nation's struggles against oppression and its quest, in Kossuth's words, for "the morning star of liberty." As we know, Kossuth's dream finally came true some ten years ago-when Hungary was the first to cut the barbed wire that divided and scarred the face of Europe. That brave act unleashed a force that eventually tumbled the Berlin Wall; crushed the Iron Curtain; and unleashed a wave of freedom crashing around the globe. What the American President Theodore Roosevelt said to the Hungarian Parliament almost ninety years ago remains true today, "The whole...world is indebted to Hungary for its historic deeds." Freedom seekers here and beyond have given us a world with far fewer barriers to information and opportunities to address common concerns in common cause.

This conference gives us the opportunity to address our shared problems of crime, justice and public order...and an opportunity to learn from each other. Given our increasingly interconnected world with its porous borders, we cannot hope to solve our crime problems in isolation-nor should we. That's why, in 1996, the U.S. and South Africa co-sponsored the first resolution in the World Health Assembly declaring violence a public health problem, worldwide. And working with the World Health Organization and its new Director-General, Dr. Gro Bruntland, we'll spend the next three years doing global surveillance of all forms of violence. But it's not enough to track violence-we must tackle violence. And not just by enforcing the law, but by reinforcing our children.

These are the children of the millennium. And their fate will determine the fate of our nations in the 21st century. But let me be the first to admit-the United States has a crisis in violence among children. Violence is the second leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24. Our adolescent homicide rate is 8 to 9 times higher than the rest of the world. A new U.S. Centers for Disease Control study showed that U.S. children age 14 and younger are murdered at five times the rate of children in 25 other industrialized countries that have comparable economies. And recently, we've endured a shocking wave of children bringing guns into schools-and using them to kill their teachers, their classmates, and themselves.

But although we in the United States may be grappling with the world's most serious youth violence problem, we're certainly aren't alone. Youth violence is escalating in many nations. A study in the British Medical Journal showed that reported crime in Britain has steadily increased-and in 1991 its peak incidence was 18 for males and 15 for females. And we ask ourselves-where did these children get the hate, the detachment, the callous indifference to law, to human suffering, to human life? What makes a child pull a trigger in cold blood?

We look for simple answers at our peril. Because we know it takes a comprehensive strategy to put and protect peace in a child's heart. We know it takes more than more than criminal justice strategies and systems-by the time the police arrive it's simply too late. We know that adolescent violence is a public health problem with reasons that can be understood, risk factors that can be identified, and outcomes that can be controlled. That's why I'm working with the U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, to harness our criminal justice and social welfare resources against many forms of violence, including domestic abuse-and especially youth violence. And that's why I applaud Jeremy Travis and the U.S. National Institute for Justice for their role in strategies that link youth and police.

And that's why we need to put peace in a child's heart and mind starting in the cradle. Last year, in an unprecedented action, President Clinton convened a special conference on child development and the brain. The conference highlighted that the years from zero to three are a time of frantic growth in a child's brain structure. This is when the links between brain cells are being formed. So this is the time that babies learn to soothe themselves when they're upset, to get along, to emphasize. These experiences can begin to shape whether a child will grow up to be a peaceful-or a violent-citizen. And everything we do with-or to-a child has influence on that rapidly forming brain during those early critical years. Dr. James Garbarino, director of the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University, notes that children who suffer abuse, poor health care or poverty before age four often don't do well in school. But, according to Garbarino, most of the time academic success translates into a child who will avoid crime and violence as an adolescent.

But the early years aren't the only crucial years. Research shows that the brain is the last organ to completely mature-often not until a child is 15. So any comprehensive strategy to fight adolescent violence needs to be tailored to each stage of a child's development-And our research and experience tells us that it must focus on three challenges: Attitude, environment, and resistance to the lure of drugs.

Our first challenge is to change individual attitudes and beliefs among youth about violence. There's a violence prevention program in Tucson, Arizona called "PeaceBuilders" that has targeted urban, high-risk youth. It works in elementary schools to reduce physical and verbal aggression by creating a "culture of peace." Throughout the school year, counselors or other specially trained instructors, use methods such as modeling and role playing to teach students to socially interact in a positive way...To teach students that violence is never acceptable-and it's never the answer.

The message is also repeated at home, because parent education is part of the PeaceBuilder program. The intervention has achieved significant behavioral improvement, and teachers report an overall decline in classroom violence and destruction of property. Of course, the United States is not the only country who understands the importance of early intervention to change individual attitudes about violence. In Ottawa, Canada, the "Participate and Learn Skills Program"-or PALS-worked to develop the skills of disadvantaged children ages five to fifteen living in a low-income housing complex. Then children engaged in cooperative games, scouting and other activities that helped to stress peaceful conflict resolution. The International Center for the Prevention of Crime reports that in the year after the program began, there was a 56% drop in the number of police charges against juveniles in the program.

But helping changes individual beliefs and behaviors is not enough. If we want to curb adolescent violence, our second challenge is to improve the family and social environment for children. When it comes to our families, both child abuse and parental neglect-including even emotional neglect-have been shown to be a significant cause of serious delinquency. And being in a violent home-even if the violence isn't directed at the child-also has a more detrimental effect than was previously thought. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently issued a report that showed that children who grew up in a dysfunctional household-including growing up with domestic abuse-had increased risk for alcoholism, addictions and depression as adults. If we don't want our children to be scarred, then we must help heal our families. That was the goal of another Canadian effort, "Parent and Child Training to Prevent Delinquency" program in Montreal, Quebec. It worked to improve the parenting skills of 46 families who had disruptive boys ages 7 to 9. Parents participated in training sessions which focused on developing effective discipline strategies and giving children consistent positive reinforcement. After the program, self-reported delinquent behavior between ages 10 to 12 was as much as 74 percent lower among the boys. And in England and Wales, the "Cities in Schools" program encouraged parents of young people ages 8 to 19 with behavioral problems to become involved in their education. The program proved successful with 74 percent of the participating children.

Of course, we can't forget that sometimes the single best way to help a troubled youth is a job. Nations such as Germany and Austria have school-to-work programs and apprenticeships that help ensure that their young people are prepared for jobs with a living wage. Many of our nations are currently grappling with reforming our welfare systems. And as we struggle with our strategies and statistics, we need to remember that sometimes the best chance to prevent violence in youth is to offer them a chance for a job.

Of course, we must also pay attention to a child's social environment. Often, the best way to improve this environment is to provide good schools and good school programs. But we must also provide a place for constructive after-school activities. For too many kids-in every country- the hours between three and seven are "crime time," when school is out, parents are working, and trouble is lurking. A study released by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice in May demonstrates that quality after-school programs can prevent crime, juvenile delinquency and violence. In Hanko, Finland, a multi-dimensional program that involved youth in pro-social activities led to a 41 percent reduction in offenses committed by juveniles. After school activities may also have an additional benefit-instilling a greater respect for the law and police in our young people. A report issued this month by Jeremy Travis and the National Institute of Justice showed that in a growing number of cities, police are working with local youth groups in many capacities-even becoming Boy and Girl Scout leaders for kids in high crime areas where troops are difficult to organize. And they're finding that violence involving youth is rapidly decreasing.

As we work to improve a child's family and social environment, our third challenge is to address the problem of substance abuse that poisons our children and our communities. Simply put, we must kick drugs out of our children's lives. We're all aware of the link between drugs and violence. We know that drugs bring violence into children's lives-into their homes, schools and families. We know that drugs can lead children to violent lives-whether it's vandalism, fighting, or the risky criminal activity of buying and selling drugs. And we also know that protecting our children from drugs involves strategies for attacking both supply and demand. It's a challenge for every nation. In the United States alone, the drug problem costs more than 100 billion dollars a year in law enforcement, lost productivity and health care. But no nation is immune-there are over 200 million addicts in the world. It's a global health problem that demands a global health solution. The UN Special Session on drug trafficking and abuse held earlier this month was a long-overdue step in the right direction. For America's part, President Clinton has challenged our nation to cut the rate of drug use in half within the next ten years. But we're not attacking this problem in isolation. We've held prevention training courses all over the world-from Thailand to Peru. We've shared our drug research findings. And very soon the US National Institute on Drug Abuse will launch an international fax service. Health and education ministries and research institutions all over the world can call and instantly receive fact sheets on over 40 topics.

But protecting our young people from drugs and drug-related violence ultimately depends on getting the word to young people-to prevent drug use in the first place. We must start early in their lives. We must give them a drumbeat against drugs that is constant and consistent. And we must give them a voice in their heads that says: Drugs are not safe; Drugs will rip your family apart; Drugs will ruin your lives-and your futures.

If we can help our children resist the lure of drugs...If we help change individual attitudes towards violence......And if we improve the family and social environment for children...-I've no doubt that we can put peace into the hearts and minds of the children of the millennium. And I've no doubt that we can create safer, healthier and better societies. But there is also one more thing we must do: We must all champion our children. Raising the children of the millennium is a national challenge-for every nation. But it's also a challenge for every community...for every individual...for every one of us. We all need to watch over our children...to talk to them...to guide them...to spend time with them...to show them what it takes to be a good parent, a good neighbor, a good citizen. And all of you in this audience-law enforcement officials, community leaders, and scholars from around the world-have a special obligation. You have a greater appreciation of the needs of our children-and a greater understanding of the costs to our criminal justice systems...to our social systems...and to our societies, if we don't reach our children long before they arrive at the prison door......In fact, the very future of our democracies may depend on it. I'm reminded of what U.S. Admiral James D. Watkins, a member of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, once noted. Over twenty years ago, Admiral Watkins worked to improve the skills of our all-volunteer Navy. He remarked, "We had 20,000 sailors who couldn't read 'Beware of Jet Blast'...Some were involved in alcohol and drugs.- That's when I became a convert for life that you have to reach down into [the] early years if democracy is going to survive." The fate of our democracies rests in the hands of our children...but their fate rests very much in our hands.

I'm reminded that 150 years ago, on the steps of the nearby National Museum, Alexander Petofi recited his fiery poem, "National Song" to a swelling crowd. It was his actions on that March evening that sparked the flame of the Hungarian Liberation Fight that Kossuth would lead. Hopefully, our actions on behalf of our children will also spark in them an understanding and appreciation of their power...their potential...and their promise. And when that happens, I have no doubt that these children will have the ability to shape themselves...their nations...their democracies...and the new millennium.