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I was thrilled to interview James Garbarino, PhD. for Wednesday’s show. Dr. Garbarino is the author of many books on child deveolpment and violent trends in our kids, including  Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them, and his most recent book See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It.

Dr. Garbarino, a psychologist and  internationally recognized expert on child development and youth violence, serves as advisor to many  organizations and is author of over 18 books on child development. He is the former president of the Chicago-based Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development and last fall he joined Loyola University’s psychology department.

His book, See Jane Hit,  has created a lot of media attention. CBS, CNN, NBC, ABC and all major news magazines have done stories on girl violence and his book. Parents and educators are listening also.

Where does all  this violence come from? Movies, TV and video games are a major negative influence (no surpirse there) but what he had to say was eye opening. The sexualized, attractive and violent hero is new. It used to be that the good guys (male or female) were not violent or sexy. That is not the case any longer. Now the sexy female who kills is often a hero. Is it cool to be mean? It seems so.

Could your child have a private life you don’t know about? Possibly, so pay attention. And make sure that you incorporate spirituality into your family’s life. It can give a adolescent something beyond materialism to believe in, and that can save their life in times of  turmoil.

He had some very helpful and enlightening information that I was glad he shared. Great insight -  and so valuable to all of us.

If you haven’t read his books, See Jane Hit, Lost Boys or Parents Under Seige, you owe it to yourself to do so. Go get a copy.

  You may also want to look at frequent guest Jerry Sander’s website (to your right) and read his published article about Girl-on-Girl Violence. It is very helpful and worth reading ~