Teen Theft In America Essay, Research Paper
Theft
Theft is a problem in America today plain and simple. Some teens think it is okay to steal and others do not. Teen theft is a problem revolving around power, drugs, and attention.
Many teen steal for power. Teens think they are powerful if they can take something from someone else. Teens think that if they have the power to steal maybe they have the power to commit larger or more violent crimes. Some teens may defend themselves by saying, I only steal a CD once in awhile . My answer to that defense is, What if everyone just stole a CD once I awhile how much more expensive do you think they would get? CDs are expensive now what if everyone just stole on once in awhile? Power is very closely related to theft and how much stuff you can get. Nowadays money is power is you can steal for stuff and sell it for more money then you too have power over someone who has less or none at all.
Another reason teen might steal is for money for the drive or need for drugs. They might steal a CD for a little cash or they might result to bigger and more expensive things. Lately on ABC News a report stated that drug use among teens is decline as compared to ten years ago. You would think that since drug use is declining theft would be too, right? Well you are correct. Theft is a slowly declining problem in America. It is still an important issue though because since it is slowly declining there is still that threat that many teens are still stealing. It is important to crack down on drug too because without drugs there would be one less reason to steal.
That brings us to our last reason. Teens steal because of Attention. Teens may steal to get the attention of their parents if they don t pay attention to them at home. They might think that stealing something and getting busted with it would get their parents to get after them and show that they care about would the child does and want to take pride in them. Teens may also think that stealing something would earn them respect and make them feel like a big person. If a kid gets picked on every day and finally gets really mad and steals something very dear to the person picking on them then they have control over that person. They can decide weather to turn it back in or keep it or just destroy it out of hate for that person. Another reason maybe that teens steal because of pressure. If someone says, Hey steal that nobody will know, just you and me man. That is very overwhelming and you don t want to look stupid in front of everyone so they might steal it and think that they did something cool or something. Overall theft is a terrible thing.
Teens today might think it is alright to steal some pencils or just a CD once in a while but overall it is a dreadful thing. No one wants their things stolen so you shouldn t steal them. One saying wraps it all up, Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. I really believe in this saying and think people should live by it.
Works Cited
U.S. Department of Justice. [online] Available
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/house2.htm. 11-24-99
International Association Of Auto theft Investigators. [online] Available
http://www.iaati.org. 11-24-99