Youth Violence

The New York Times story on teen domestic violence highlights an issue of great concern. Although the US has made tremendous progress in reducing domestic violence, the high incidence of violence against teenage women raises the troubling prospect that the progress we've made could be reversed.

The story also reminds me of our plans to include the issue ofteenage domestic violence in "Power and Control." We've researched different youth programs around NYC and have found some interesting ones -- both Safe Horizon and the Center Against Domestic Violence run programs in the NYC schools. Jacqueline Campbell is involved in a strong program in Baltimore schools.

So far, we haven't had a chance to film any of these programs. We're hoping at some point to follow a high school "peer leader" to gain some insight into the attitude of young people toward domestic violence. I'm eager to explore the continuing impact of hip hop culture on high school boys and to also examine the role of texting, instant messaging and other technology.