Nearly one in 10 American teenagers experienced major depression in 2004, according to a government statistic released in December 2005. Depression often leads to suicide, drug or alcohol abuse and a long list of other deadly problems. I want to offer sound advice and solutions to help save our children.

This publication is the first of many to address this national problem. There are many roads to depression. Today, we will discuss the road of boredom. What role does it play in depression, How does it start, what is the dangers of it and how can we prevent it?”

Every thing from the largest planet to the tiniest molecule has a specific purpose. There is a logical pattern and projected goal to every power. The power within our lives is no exception. Without a projected goal, our powers become scattered. Boredom is the byproduct of misappropriated power.

We are constantly gaining new powers. We waste some of our powers because we do not recognize or underestimate their value. Powers i.e. influence, time or life itself are often over looked. To reach our full potential, we must assign each power; however, we cannot assign what we do not acknowledge.

If we do not assign our powers to a goal, we can use our powers frivolously. Without a goal to motivate us, pleasure, convenience or image becomes our motivator. This is why people spend all their money to appear to have money. Image does not fulfill us because it is not real and pleasure is never satisfied. Boredom hides and waits at the end of pleasure and image.

Youth respond to boredom in two ways. Either they project it externally in the form of mischief or reckless behavior or they project it internally in the form of lethargy that eventually leads to depression. Some children visit both stages. They become depress and then commit mischievous acts as a cry for help. In more advanced cases of boredom, youth become numb to any fear of discipline.

As a New York City Police Officer, I have arrested and debriefed over 4,000 youths. Some of the crimes they committed included murder and serious assaults on other youths. 9 out of 10 of these youths said that they were board or they did not have anything else to do. How do we prevent this monster from devouring our children?

The first step to eliminate boredom is to eliminate the term boredom. When a child says, “I’m bored.” They are asking someone for something to do. It may also imply the desire to do something different and exciting. Children often perform acts against their character to alleviate the feeling of boredom.

We can train our children to value and utilize down time. Downtime plays a very important role in our lives, if you let it. It is the time you can rest and be refreshed. You can explore and develop your talents. This is the time where you can look at your to do list and catch up on what you did not have time to do before; or to contemplate today and strategize events for tomorrow.

One day my six-year-old daughter, Christina walked into my office. “I’m bored,” she said in a pouting tone. “I want you to write down your talents and things you like to do,” I said in an optimist voice.

She returned with a list of eleven things. I told her to circle the things on the list that you can do inside. She circled, drawing, listing to music, playing video games and playing the piano. I made an agreement with her. “When ever you think of the word boredom, I want you to think of doing one of those things that you circled”. She left the room excited and full of hope.

Our child’s boredom is our responsibility. Once we teach them the value of down time, boredom becomes their responsibility. Our children often get into trouble when they look to others to remedy their boredom.

James joined the New York City Police Department and patrolled crime infested streets, much like the neighborhood he grew up in. Johnson retired after 20 years with the New York City Police Department. Police officer, James Johnson worked as an undercover for the Narcotics Division, Zodiac Killer taskforce, The Mayor’s Social Club Task Force, and other units within the police department. However, his greatest accomplishment was creating and implementing a strategy that brought gang membership and violence down 62% while helping many youth avoid the pitfalls of gangs, drugs and other destructive activities that can hinders a productive lifestyle. In 1996, Officer Johnson with the assistance of Denise Johnson founded and ran the Sixty-Ninth Precinct Law Enforcement Explores Youth Program. James and Denise serviced an area with nearly 100,000 people. In 2001,Johnson had the pleasure of working with long-time friend and fellow minister the late Councilman James E. Davis http://www.jedavis-stopviolence.org/meta2.html.

One of the challenges of that community was that the Bloods and Crips were beginning to flood Brooklyn communities. In 1998, gang membership spiked in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn. Johnson formulated a positive proactive community strategy. He collaborated with the Police Commissioner, District Attorney, community organizations, local politicians, media youth and the New York Board of Education. Johnson combined prevention, intervention and apprehension strategies to reduce gang violence, membership while promoting community development. Johnson trained New York City Police Officers (39,000) in Positive Youth Interaction, Social workers, educators, parents and youth. He strengthened families as well as the community. Gang violence and membership dropped 62%. Contact James Johnson at http://www.Ls4u2.com or call 919-267-4554.