Young Men

EVERY SOCIETY has faced the same problem -- how to repress the aggressive, often violent tendencies of young men while still preserving their ideal of manliness. It is a delicate balance. A country needs manly men to defend it during a national emergency. But if left uncurbed, the restless vanity and strong will of young men would soon spill over into anarchy.In the past, the problem was handled by restricting the terrain on which the aggressive impulses of men were played out. In schools of discipline and brotherhoods, young men received an ideal of manly honor that was compatible with their tremendous pride but also limited the pool of combatants.

EVEN SEAN FREELAND's mother will admit that her 23-year-old son, shot and killed Saturday night by police, had a history of trouble with the law. But maybe neighbors who violently protested the shooting that night weren't ignoring his record. Their actions, in a sense, acknowledged his criminal record and served as recognition that Mr. Freeland was like a lot of other young men they know in West Baltimore -- sons, brothers and fathers who easily could have been in his place.That fact is as tragic as Mr. Freeland's death.

WASHINGTON -- The House Judiciary Committee approved a plan yesterday for the federal government to sponsor midnight basketball leagues in an attempt to slam-dunk crime by keeping young men off the streets.The amendment to the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1991 would allocate $5 million over the next two years to set up or expand basketball leagues that play games between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. in communities around the country."The basketball is the hook," said Gil Walker, commissioner of the Chicago Housing Authority's Midnight Basketball League.

FIVE FRIENDS from Columbia took off for New Smyrna Beach, Fla., near Daytona, to enjoy spring break. It didn't matter that they were no longer in school and in need of this annual respite from the rigors of academia. The Florida beaches are where the action is this time of year. They went in search of springtime fun.Unfortunately, what they found was the worst nightmare for parents of young men: that with all the machismo and bravado that goes with being that age they might take on a challenge that would do more than defeat them.

AMERE 82 of the 890 young men who were part of a class-action settlement against the state's Department of Juvenile Services are attending classes on the state's dime right now. And that's the good news. The more than $4 million they were awarded for surviving the bruises, broken bones and harassment of Maryland's boot camps for chronic juvenile offenders surely would have served them better if it had been spent on counseling, schooling and follow-up care when they were teens. And four years since The Sun graphically described violence by guards in one of the three Western Maryland boot camps and a near-complete lack of support once juveniles returned home, kids in state care continue to get hurt and continue to be neglected after their release from detention.

On the first Sunday evening of the new year, with God in his heaven and Mayor Martin O'Malley promising a new, safer city, Gary Nelson took his 12-year-old son Biko to Denison Street and Clifton Avenue in West Baltimore, not far from Walbrook Junction, and ordered a take-home pizza. Nelson, 46, a veteran emergency vehicle driver for Baltimore City Fire Department, likes the pizza and holds the neighborhood dear. This is based largely on nostalgia for a vanished past. He grew up nearby, and wishes to remember days before the narcotics traffickers began taking things apart.

MEN RAISED BY Ward and June Cleaver and who had a bit of religion growing up are more likely to marry than men from godless, broken homes, according to a recent report by researchers who annually take the pulse of the American marriage. If you haven't seen this in newspaper headlines, it might be because even the researchers weren't surprised by this news. "I think we could have predicted these results," said David Popenoe, who, along with Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, is co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.

OUR BIG CITIES and even our small towns have become killing fields where young men especially are racking up record numbers of homicides. Have violent crimes become key components of ''the American way of life?''In Richmond, Virginia, William Jordan, 19, was a star athlete, student-body president, graduate at the top of his class -- and was shot to death in an argument last April. He was one of hundreds of teen-agers who could have glorified America who got mowed down in an orgy of violence that I think we can reduce, if not stop.

25 Years Ago* A new home for the Carroll County Historical Society's collection of records and memorabilia is nearing completion at 210 E. Main St., with the first activity planned for next week. The building, known to most residents as the Kimmey house, has been restored, in part, and the society has added an auditorium, library and fire-resistant strong room to house the society's collection of valuable books, records and artifacts. -- Democratic Advocate, Nov. 13, 1969.50 Years Ago* A most impressive memorial service was conducted in the Armory by members of Carroll Post No. 31, American Legion, to our county War Dead on Armistice Day at 2 p.m. The closing of many of the stores and business places for several hours enabled many to join in paying honor to the glorious group of young men who have made the supreme sacrifice.

Hayes-Williams picked for county business panelCounty Executive Robert R. Neall has appointed Janice Hayes-Williams of Pasadena to the county's Minority Business Advisory Council.A graduate of Bowie State University, Ms. Williams will serve on the panel through June 1995. The council provides a communication channel between the county government and the minority business community.Ms. Williams has 12 years of experience in the administration of business contracts, including jobs with World Computer Systems Inc., General Sciences Corp.