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Relevance of Crime and School Attendance

By Kristin Gabriel

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Published: 30Jul2008
Word count: 417
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Do you think that if more kids attended school, maybe there would be less crime? Studying the relationship between school attendance and crime goes back more than 200 years. A lot of people believe that rather than school, better crime control measures such as vigorous police work, or strict law enforcement are needed.

Crime has been around for thousands of years, long before the mandatory school attendance. In fact, violence and even references to youth gangs are all recorded in the Bible.

American views about education and crime was referenced in a January 10, 1931 Literary Digest, article entitled "What We Shall Be Like in 1950" (pages 43-44). The article mentioned prophecies made by the National Education Association adapted from a publication called Tomorrow's Business, which said, "Crime will be virtually abolished by transferring to the preventive processes of the school and education the problems of conduct which police, courts, and prisons now remedy when it is too late."

One student drops out every 26 seconds in America. Harvard conducted a study which found that black students fall behind by the time they are three years old. Three of the one million New York students are a minority, with 70 percent impoverished.

Many experts believe school causes crime more than it prevents it, and this is not necessarily a new belief. Henry Fielding said in his day, "Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality." Henry Fielding lived from 1707 to 1754.

Others wonder if crime is closely related to drug use. In 2006, a study entitled, "The Monitoring the Future Study" asked high school seniors this question: "On how many occasions, if any, have you used drugs or alcohol during the last 12 months?"

Here are the answers:

Alcohol - 66.5
Marijuana 31.5
Other opiates - 9.0
Stimulants - 8.1
Sedatives - 6.6
Tranquilizers - 6.6
Cocaine - 5.7
Hallucinogens - 4.9
Inhalants - 4.5
Steroids - 1.8
Heroin - 0.8

Today there are numerous programs nationwide that help prevent both drug use and crime, and they have also helped students do better in school.

One Brooklyn New York program called "FutureSafe," sponsors a collaborative monthly event attended by around 500 kids. It's like a neighborhood block party, offering food, games, singing, crafts, and other fun stuff. Those who attend this venue is often a first step for children to engage in structured afterschool activities, a proven preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, and gang involvement.

Kristin Gabriel is an author and social media marketing professional and works with Rocco Basile of the the Basile Builders Group based in New York. Basile is involved with several charities including Children of the City and the Joe DiMaggio Committee for Xaverian High School.

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