Lesson Plan: Combating the Myth of the Superpredator
Grades 9-12
In 1995, John DiIulio Jr., then a Princeton professor, coined a word that seemed to sum up the nation’s fear of teen violence: “superpredator.” In the previous decade, the youth violent crime rate had soared, and television news often led with stories about seemingly incomprehensible violence committed by children as young as 10. The word “superpredator” caught the attention of lawmakers, some of whom used it to push for the continued overhaul of a juvenile justice system they considered too lenient. By the end of the 1990s, nearly every state had passed laws that made it easier to try juveniles in adult courts or that increased penalties for violent juvenile crimes. But DiIulio later had to admit his theory was flawed, and in 2001 he acknowledged and apologized for the consequences: tens of thousands of children prosecuted as adults.
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