What Should Be Done About Youth Crime?
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5
points
I sort of mentioned in my account what I believed should be done about youth crime. There need to be programs in place that will turn children away from patterns of behavior and thought that lead them into criminal acts. There need to be moralizing, skill-teaching, maturity developing institutions to help raise kids where their parents, teachers, and environment fail to do so. Whenever there is a pattern of deviant and criminal behavior (beyond the typical play, curiosity, and mischievousness inherent in children) there needs to be state-funded centers of rehabilitation and learning. Children should not be treated like criminals. I think the juvenile justice system is broken and provenly useless. We need to take a caring, but firm approach to child welfare and development. I suggest state-funded independently operated boarding schools for troubled youth. Where possible, the students, teachers, parents, relatives, and administrators will all work together to work through each individual child's problems and get them on the proper track. The students should live in individual rooms and shouldn't be permitted to congregate without strict supervision of adults. A lot of problem children gathering together would only produce more advanced delinquency. Each room should come with basic amenities for play and education (no television unless it provides only educational programming). A book program should be developed to allow the children to receive any book they want, within reason. A computer should be provided to each of the students to be used individually, though it should be properly regulated to keep them from accessing unsavory sites. Otherwise, they are free to roam and explore the World Wide Web. The better they do in their studies and the better their behavior, the meeting of the goals set by the students and adults together will award them more and more amenities. They need to be shown that they will be rewarded for doing good things, to know that there is prosperity in the path of lawful activity and maturity. Care will be taken to allow the students religious, political, artistic, and ideological freedom; they need to be able to explore themselves and various concepts and thoughts. There will be no censorship beyond what is absolutely necessary. (In other words, they can write freely about how awesome Republican politics is but they cannot write about wanting to bomb MSNBC headquarters without intervention.) They can go to political websites, religious websites, but not pornographic or websites advocating violence or criminal activity. Guided freedom is what should be the aim of these institutions; the better behaved the student is the more freedom they will be granted. This isn't going to be one of those rigid boarding schools populated by bully principles or zealous nuns with yard sticks. 3
points
I agree whole-heartedly with the well thought out plan you've put forth here. The only question I have is how do we handle kids who go beyond the pale of the usual shop-lifting, graffiti writing, bullying or rejection of authority? In today's world we deal with children and teens who are armed, on and/or selling drugs and think nothing of a casual drive-by shooting or brutalizing their parents and siblings. Do you envision something more severe than what you've outlined here or are we just talking about petty crime? Side: Do we make exceptions for higher crimes
2
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I think we can agree that children are the responsibility of their parents and, when that isn't sufficient, society. In the more severe crimes, drug dealing (but not use, that shouldn't be a punitive act), violence, grand theft, murder, rape..etc..etc...the children are still children. Unless they are proven to have the mental capacity and reasoning power of an adult (through tests or interviews) they should be put through the same programs, though for longer periods of time and under more strict guidance. In petty cases where there is repetitive theft, minor violence (typical fighting between children, minor scuffles, nothing that endangers lives in any reasonable way), or otherwise a pattern of minor criminal activity the children should be put in the system for around five years, even if this puts them past adulthood. Major crimes committed by minors should leave them in very strict schools for up to ten years. If a major crime is committed at the age of 17 the minor will remain in the program until perhaps his or her late twenties (once they are capable they should be given a community college-level education at least, moreso if they prove especially bright. Trade school if that's where the child's skills lie). Of course, if the child's behavior drastically and consistently improves and they can be trusted to exit the program early I wouldn't have any objection. Monitoring should continue for years, of course, to make sure they don't stray from the right path. The only options would be putting them in the program for an insufficient number of years or placing them in the adult criminal correction program. Either way the child is essentially doomed. I take murder very seriously, I even believe the death penalty should remain an option for adult, competent offenders whose guilt is beyond any reasonable doubt. A murder committed by a minor on anyone, family or strangers, is a crime both the child, the parents, and the society is responsible for. If the child is insane or otherwise mentally obstructed from living lawfully then it should be the same as mentally handicapped or disordered adults: mental institutionalization until cure. My main emphasis here is providing the kind of environment and guidance the minors were deprived of through no fault of their own. It isn't their fault that their parents were unable to raise them properly, that their environment was hostile and corrupting, or problems residing within their genetics or brain composition. I know some of what I am suggesting sounds extreme, but these are extreme cases we are talking about. I want us to do everything in our power to keep them out of the adult criminal justice system, that should be a last resort if anything at all. Side: Do we make exceptions for higher crimes
something else that should be considered is how we teach our toddlers the difference between right and wrong. why can't we take care of mishaps like that, only with a firmer hand ? some adolescents though don't always learn unless they experience the consequence if it was to happen to them as adults, so some of the ways that youth crime gets handled could only be solved by handling it like they were in the real world, kinda liek the cold hard truth. Side: Do we make exceptions for higher crimes
This sounds like a great idea in concept. Rather than punish them and throw them in juvy it would be better to take a realistic approach to rehabilitating them to come back to being productive members of society. Encouraging and rewarding good behavior vs. punishing bad behavior should be the primary focus. Side: Do we make exceptions for higher crimes
I strongly favor all that you have written and it sounds like a good plan. Too many times the law and those upholding it feel they need to punish people for everything. Punishing people only does that, but helping them see the problems of their path, and how to better live their lives will help make them productive for society and more likely to not commit another crime. The Youth are young enough that they can change and become good people, it is vital to help them because unless for some reason they are executed they will probably have little respect for the law after their punishment. Side: reeducate
2
points
Having been a foster parent and seeing all the bureaucracy of the system, failure of the system, cost of the programs, wasted $$, terrible parents given chance after chance while failing over and over, and witnessing the horrible effects this has on children It is a tough uphill battle we face. We are now dealing with yesterdays adults that are the product of the last generation's problems with youth crime. The parents are drug addicts, child abusers/molesters, alcoholics, no jobs or futures and the kids are just fending for themselves and growing up without a parent. They sleep in front of the TV with mom passed out on the couch, or worse left with Mom's bad boyfriend alone while she's out on the town. It's heartbreaking. Many seem to become sociopaths, they have no feelings and make no attachments due to neglect. Any attention, even bad is better than none. So this inevitably leads to crime and gang activity, where they at least can get some feeling of belonging and acceptance. Their behavior soon becomes very erratic, crazy and desperate. They get into all sorts of trouble and their parents are no where to be found, probably don't have a clue where and what they are doing. These kids need attention in the form of strict discipline. They are crying out for somebody to care enough to limit their behavior, watch them and discipline them. Good foster homes work wonders, but they are in short supply. Good social workers are a valuable asset. The problem children need somebody on their side who can give them tough love if need be, lot of tough love. The Gridiron Gang was a GREAT movie, I loved it Side: Football-Grdiron Gang
1
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We should go back to the 10th Amendment and leave it up to the States. The States and local levels are better able to handle such a task however, not take away any Constitutional rights. We oppress certain groups because we don't treat them as equals and throw them in jail without looking at the reasons why we have youth crimes. The drug war is a great example. We have a federal ban on drugs and severe penalties for even a small amount of drugs and this directly affects the youth crime. I am opposed to the use of drugs however; the use of drugs should be left up to the families, friends and treatment not jail-time. Youth crime will always be around but we must look at the sources of youth crime. Questions that should be asked: Where are the parents? What are the schools possibly going to do? Are there any programs at the local towns? A ten-year sentence is not the answer though. Side: Football-Grdiron Gang
1
point
I have been living in a gang violence area since i was small. You have to have protection and have more than one person guarding your back or you will be killed by your rivals. You do what you have to in order to support yourself and family. (i am not in a gang, but a lot of my family is) Side: Football-Grdiron Gang
Lowering age discernment won’t solve juvenile delinquency in the Philippines Children who violate the law should not be presumed criminals. They are victims! Victims who should be help to correct his/her mistakes. Most of the children have become juvenile delinquents either out of necessity, because of poverty or through force, because of the syndicates. They should not be jailed. The state should be concerned in the welfare of the children. The increasing number of the juvenile delinquents only reflects the failure of the government to respond to these problems. Even adults who presents themselves in court are frightened, has much more for a nine year old child undergoes to the court procedures in our justice system? During trials, the accused stays in the jail together with adult prisoners. Here in the Philippines, the delinquents were not segregated from the adult prisoners. After their release, they will go back to the street with more knowledge of committing crime learned from the adult prisoners. If this happened, there would be more crimes involving the delinquents. Is this what you want to happen? The solution to the problem of the juvenile delinquency is not lowering the age of discernment, but good education and vocational training. There should be a move by the government to institutionalize children, rather than jailing them. Rehabilitation is more applicable in solving this problem. So that, this juvenile delinquents could play this constructive role in our society. Side: Football-Grdiron Gang
hello...i think this is a good topic for discussion.lf we wanted to stop young crime.first of all we have to started it from you own house,if there is any teenage in your house you must tell what is good or bad and discuss freely on these topic like the crime-murder,exploitation,etc. you that is why satyamev jaytev type are made to aware about these as our teenage able to understand it. Side: Football-Grdiron Gang
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