Reprinted from The Boston Herald (Op-Ed)

Post Gun Buyback, a Buy-in Program

Susan P. Curnan
Director of the Center for Youth and Communities
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

June 14, 2006 -- On the cusp of a long, hot summer, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino's youth gun-buyback plan seems like a good idea. The monthlong plan, which started this week, deserves our attention not only for what it is, but also for what it is not. An inexpensive, feel-good measure, the plan at least does no harm. But by itself, the offer will do little to stem the rising tide of violent crime - now at a 10-year record - and may even perpetuate a damaging cycle of "buyback and forget."

It isn't the first time well-intentioned politicians and agencies have promised improvements in safety and well being to nervous citizens but failed to deliver because the strategy stops short of creating lasting change in neighborhoods. We may have forgotten similar past efforts, but residents in the affected communities remember.

This cycle of buyback and forget began almost 25 years ago when an epidemic of violent, often lethal behavior erupted nationwide, partly as a consequence of kids' easy access to guns. Though there has been a decline in the lethality of violence and consequent arrests, homicide remains the second leading cause of death among adolescents. It doesn't have to continue. Youth violence is not an intractable problem.

In 2001, the U.S. surgeon general reported that two factors above all others buffer a youth's risk for violence: an intolerant attitude toward deviance, including violence, and commitment to school. The following year, The National Research Council (NRC) published a seminal report summarizing the latest scientific evidence related to healthy development of kids.

Not surprisingly, the NRC concluded that kids need supportive relationships, appropriate structure, physical and psychological safety, opportunities to belong, positive role models, opportunities for skill-building and a social support system.

Getting a $200 gift card to Target, the QUID PRO QUO in Menino's buyback plan, is not the kind of business-community partnership that fosters youth development.

It all boils down to this: In order to grow up to be good citizens and avoid risky behavior - including violence - young people need at least one competent, caring adult in their lives to provide a safe place to learn and grow, set limits and expectations, and provide hope for the future. Short of that, kids don't have much to lose and risky behavior prevails.

The late distinguished psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner put it this way: "In order to develop normally, a child requires progressively more complex joint activities with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child." Somebody's got to be crazy about that kid. That's number one. First, last and always. Menino should use the gun buyback program as a springboard for community youth development and inspired collaboration with a long-term plan. He did it before with the launch of community policing. Results were good until funding cuts took a toll.

He can do it again by building on business-community partnerships, engaging youth as partners in community violence prevention and providing mentors for every young person needing someone to "be crazy about that kid."

After all, it has been said that attention is the greatest form of generosity, and it can be given free.

Citizens Schools and many other nonprofit organizations managing volunteers in Boston have proven Bostonians are willing and able to be generous with their time. Fact is, there is a new generation of teenagers every five years and when we stop paying attention to them, crime rebounds.

Linking the buyback plan to a buy-in program, providing mentors, will reap dividends much greater than any gift card.

Susan P. Curnan is a professor at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.