ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Lauren J. Woodhouse, a specialist in teen violence, dedicates her life to helping troubled young people and their families. She was born in Montreal and studied in both the United States and Canada. Her roles include those of author, essayist, broadcaster, forensic psychologist, psychotherapist, victim-witness counselor, and trauma specialist.

She earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Queens University in Ontario, Canada. At the Southern University for Professional Studies, where she earned her doctorate in psychology, she did groundbreaking research on teen violence, particularly as it manifests in gangs. She counsels inmates in medium- and maximum-security penitentiaries. Dr. Woodhouse continues to work in crisis intervention, debriefing, and domestic violence Intervention, and is frequently called upon to do television analysis related to child and adolescent violence.

She is a member of the International Institute for Associates in Medicine, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Canadian Mental Health Association. She is also the founder of The International Institute for Child Security, an organization comprised of social scientists, psychologists, physicians, teachers, parents, and adolescents dedicated to addressing adolescent and child violence and suicide, and The Foundation For The Development And Application of Human Potential. Her books include:

• Hard Lessons: Understanding and Addressing The Dangerous Challenges Facing Today's Youth
• Laughing In The Face of Change: A Blueprint for A Return to Joy!
• Essential Adjustments: Showing Up For Life In The New Millennium
• By Way of Sanity: 13 Principles For Living In A Chaotic World

AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. LAUREN WOODHOUSE

What is this book about?

This book is a composite biography of a child who kills. The despair, fear, anguish, confusion and nightmarish brutality experienced by the boys I interviewed are all real, discomfortingly communicated through this one boy's story. However, there is a purpose for telling this story and accurately communicating the horrors experienced by a child who kills. The thinking and complex emotional world of a child before and after resorting to murder is the what, how, and why of this book.

How is this book different from other books about teenage violence?

Based on innumerable interviews with troubled children and teens, as well as with adolescents who have resorted to violence, this story illuminates a dichotomy that is often hard to accept. That is, on the one hand, so-called "normal" children can suddenly lash out violently, even murderously, at us and each other, and the other is that their drastic actions can be understood and prevented - but frequently are not.

How can readers derive the greatest benefit from this book?

The way in which one reads, processes and uses this work is critical to the objective of enabling readers - especially adolescents - to acquire a better understanding of themselves, and of why seemingly "normal" children kill. The best way to do this is to make use of the questions formulated for each chapter. The questions can also be used by parents and teachers to induce open discussions about the feelings and the thinking of both average and troubled teens.

How are the children of today different from those of past generations?

As indicated in the body of research alluded to in my previous book, HARD LESSONS: Understanding and Addressing the Dangerous Challenges Facing Today's Youth, our children are more fearful of being hurt, stabbed, or shot at school than we parents are for them. They don't talk about it, and they need us to give them a ready opportunity to do so. This book serves this purpose.

This book is full of graphic language. Was it all necessary? Aren't you afraid that it will offend some parents?

This boy's story is sufficiently authentic to capture and maintain the interest a child in his early to late teens. By censoring typical adolescent language and imagery as little as possible, the book tells the truth, and, therefore, can honestly and effectively capture the attention to address the hearts and minds of confused teenagers. This visceral language - well-known to children - may offend some parents, but sugar-coating the pill is not a solution for the problem of child violence. Until now, none of us has had much to work with other than potentially inciting news broadcasts and worn platitudes and frowns from vocal, if ill-attuned, adults. As a result, we, too, have been flailing with decreasing credibility and an increasing sense of estrangement and helplessness ourselves.

What's the chief value of this book?

In addition to increasing our understanding of the inner world of adolescents who end up in serious trouble, Shooter in the Sky is a virtual textbook on consequences. In discussions on child violence, it is critical that we depict what really happens to the life of a child, from one day to the next, when he makes the decision - or resigns himself to - killing as a form of self-assertion or mollification. Until now, this has been largely sidestepped in order to avoid offending "nice" families.

It is time to face this social issue head on, with words and with tears - both in our schools and at home. Merely reacting is no longer acceptable. I have presented a solid blueprint from which to start intelligent and preventive discussions. It is also a story and lesson through which we can attempt to reach and to touch the hearts of a generation left to simmer without clear ethical or behavioral guidelines. In short, we should, after reading and working with this story and model, be more alert and attentive to those among our children who are most likely to commit random acts of violence.