Anger Management as Violence Prevention

Will anger management slow youth violence?
By Erika Cotton
Examiner Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:12 PM EST
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A seven-week crash course in anger management for teens begins today at the Northern Virginia Family Services Center in Fairfax County as violent crime among youth in the area is peaking.

Nearly 500 youths were arrested in Arlington County in the last fiscal year for crimes ranging from vandalism to murder. In Alexandria, statistics show a rise in violent felonies among youths.

Most recently a 17-year-old T.C. Williams High School student who stabbed three Alexandria police officers was found guilty by an Alexandria Circuit Court judge. He is to be sentenced March 2, just months before he would have graduated from high school. He could get up to 120 years in prison.


Gail Hayes, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said prevention programs such as Equipping Teens, the Northern Virginia effort, are an important tool in curtailing youth violence.

The course is designed to get teenagers to stop and think about the consequences of their actions before reacting to situations violently, said Diana O'Brien, a family counselor at the center.



"We really look at it as a preventative type class for kids that are beginning to show signs of anger issues," said Teresa Preville, another counselor. "This helps them before it escalates and gets them into more trouble."

Five to eight students will discuss the outcomes of their actions, study relaxation techniques like deep breathing and other anger intervention methods - counting to 10, playing sports, hitting pillows - to alleviate pent-up frustrations in positive ways, O'Brien said.

The program still requires a young person to use its tools.



"We can give them the information to go about it if they want to change the patterns of their behavior," O'Brien said. "But ultimately it rests with the teenager wanting to make a change."

Student Violence

A 2004 survey of U.S. high school students found that:

- 33 percent reported being in a fight one or more times

- 17 percent reported carrying a weapon

- 6 percent reported not going to school because they felt unsafe

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ecotton@dcexaminer.com