Youth violence should be considered as much a public health issue as a law enforcement issue, according to Barbara Ferrer, Boston's Public Health Commissioner and a former high school principal. "We have to build peace," Ferrer said in a lecture entitled "Investing in Peace" on December 7 in Kresge G-2. The event was sponsored by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center."It can't just be an anti-violence strategy," she said. "We have to put in place things that make it possible for people to live in peace with each other. Some of that is skill-building, some of it is making sure the neighborhoods work for everybody, some of it is making sure that youth are allowed the opportunity to have good jobs, a good education, and that they hold leadership roles.""This work has to happen in partnership with all city agencies," she added. "Law enforcement can only do so much. If you want to stop the pipeline of kids that are wanting to be in a gang, you have to do all these other things."Ferrer said a survey showed that 10 percent of Boston students had been attacked with a weapon in the prior year and six percent had been shot at. One third of students said it would be easy to get a gun.Ferrer added that those involved in violence were also more likely to be involved in other risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, taking drugs or having risky sex."You can't just look at violence prevention," she said.To that end, she said, the city has devised a number of interventional programs that focus on neighborhoods, linking people to services and setting up so-called “peace councils” that are led by neighborhood residents themselves."It is about having the government respond to the residents, not the other way around," she said.The Health Department has also set up programs where teens can serve as peer leaders, working in the areas of health education and social marketing, for example. The participants are paid for their time."At the end of the day, the young people have to be at the center," she said.Ferrer said she believes such programs are going to work."It's not hopeless," she said. "With the right opportunities and resources, I think we can do it. There will always be some violence, but the pervasive culture of violence, we can switch that."Contact: Michael Lasalandra617.432.6052croache@hsph.harvard.edu