Because youth violence is more random - teen-agers kill strangers more frequently than do adult criminals - the rise in teen-age crime is at the core of the rising fear of recent years.

When the Utah Legislature reconvenes next month, it will take up more proposals involving teen-age crime, said Reed M. Richards, chief deputy to the state Attorney General.

Unlike adult crime, teen-age crime "follows a fad-like pattern, where the changes come quickly," Professor Wilson said.

In the heated and occasionally hysterical debate over gun-related youth violence, scant attention has been paid to stopping the flow of the weapons that have made teen-age crime more deadly.

As teen-age crime continues to rise, school districts are increasingly grappling with the dilemma of how to handle the situation.

The rape tested New Yorkers' resolve to reclaim their parks and other public spaces and prompted debate - in black and white communities - of the causes of teen-age crime.

That would be a plausible reaction for any adult who had read the day's headlines about teen-age crime.

High School in Manhattan, where the heroes are rap singers and students pass through weapon detectors to get to class, teachers promote the school's namesake as a prophet whose principles of nonviolence can reduce teen-age crime.

In fact, experts note that while crimes committed by people over the age of 35 are plunging, teen-age crime remains high.