by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Robert Calame

Age: 53

Occupation: Aggression replacement trainer

Bio: This no-nonsense Pierrefonds stud and 23-year veteran of the Batshaw Youth Service organization is not only a first-rate youth worker but a “master trainer” in the field of aggression replacement therapy. Helping fucked up kids deal with their rage, Robert argues that “even some of the toughest, baddest, meanest kids are trainable, and I’ve spent most of my career working with these youths in particular.” He’s also claims that he’s “never yet worked with a kid who killed just for the sake of killing.”

What the deal is with aggression replacement training: ART teaches kids “how to behave through social skills training, how not to behave through anger control, and teaches them to examine why they behave the way they do and how that behaviour affects the rest of the world.”

Is bottling one’s anger all up inside and letting it fester until it manifests into a raging suicidal fury a key lesson in training aggressive youths the fine art of chilling out? “No, it is not.”

Is it perhaps possible that locking kids up in juvenile detention centres might help to make them a little bit angrier? “Yes, but some kids, unfortunately, have to be locked up. But if they get some caring messages and genuine help while they are locked up, well, years later they may well call you up and say, ‘Yeah, it was bad being locked up, but you really helped me.’ And that’s a really good feeling.”

An international stat with respect to ART: When the whole family is involved in the process, the recidivism rate of angry kids expressing their rage through violence is but a mere 15 per cent.

Does he find teenage girls tend to express their rage differently than their male counterparts? “Yes, but there are still many similarities. Guys will get angry and violent, blow up and then it’s over, where girls might be frustrated and stew emotionally for awhile. Guys are more likely to beat on somebody, where a girl, or a group of girls, are generally more inclined to shun someone as opposed to beating them up—although this is changing as more and more girls are becoming tough, hard-exterior young offenders.”

Has any kid ever put a gun to his head during a training session just to let him know in no uncertain terms that he isn’t at all angry about anything? No. “I’ve been fortunate that in my 23 years I’ve never had a kid even try to hit me.”

How he unwinds: By coaching soccer and hanging with his nine-year-old daughter, Ariel.

Childhood ambition: To become a phys ed teacher.

Last book read: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

One book that he references regularly: The Holy Bible, by God, with a bit of help from King James and friends.

Musical preferences: Eva Cassidy, Van Morrison, Steve Bell.

Fave TV programs: NYPD Blue, Friends.

Words of wisdom: “If at all possible, live peaceably with all men.”

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