MDs To Start Violence Counseling
Updated 1:14 AM ET March 7, 2000
By LINDSEY TANNER, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - Pediatricians should watch for warning signs of violence as they talk to children about guns and anger during routine checkups, according to new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"This is something that we need to try and start to deal with at very young ages," said Dr. Edward Cox, a member of the academy's Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine.
Doctors should start even before a child is born, discussing with parents-to-be issues like guns in the home, family stress and discipline.
Parents should be the main focus until children reach school age and are old enough to communicate with their doctors, and the practice should continue through adolescence, according to updated guidelines in the March issue of the academy journal Pediatrics.
"What led to it is our horrible problem in the United States and with children. All you have to do is look in my home state," said Cox, a Grand Rapids, Mich., pediatrician. He was referring to last week's shooting near Flint in which a 6-year-old girl was allegedly killed by a classmate.
Pediatricians were urged to talk about issues such as gun safety, anger management and gangs, and look for signs of poor self-esteem or depression that could make a child prone to violence.
The new recommendation is "not going to prevent every tragedy but it will prevent some," said Naomi Paiss of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, a lobbying group that worked with the academy in developing violence-prevention guidelines.
"Taking the public education approach through health care professionals on what has become a threatening plague for America's children is certainly the appropriate thing to do," Paiss said.
In a policy statement in the January 1999 issue of Pediatrics, pediatricians were urged to take an active role in preventing youth violence.
The statement notes that the United States has the highest youth homicide and suicide rates of the 26 wealthiest nations. "Homicide and suicide have become the second and third leading causes of death of teen-agers" and the leading cause of death among black youngsters, the statement says.
"Because many pediatricians encounter children and youth who are experiencing or are at risk for violence, pediatricians are well-situated to intervene," the statement says.
---
On the Net: American Academy of Pediatrics site:
http://www.aap.org.