Juvenile Crime And How To Reduce It Essay, Research Paper
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A few fellow students rushed to the corner next to an abandoned truck across the street in front of James Madison high school. I saw a big Hispanic guy with all kinds of tattoos on his arms, neck, and legs turned away from a victim who had been begging, hurting and crawling on the ground. The victim, who I later discovered that he was a decent senior, was beat up. I could see bloods bleeding out of his mouth. He covered one eye, creeping to the pavement and mourning for help but no “dare” to shout. The bully freely drove away. Obviously, that was just one among the numerous cases of teen violence. School shootings, teacher assaults, and many other crime activities are on the tremendous rise in America. It is now time for us to take a closer look at our kids, understand their problems to help themselves and the existed violent environment to create a better society tomorrow.
Of course, we all know kids cause troubles sometimes. They are enthusiasts who play hard and being aggressive. Minor fighting could be considered normal. Drunk driving occasionally happened, but killing and shooting each other are the painful tumor that are devastating and hardly to be removed from our society.
Triggermen in shootings often are not yet old enough to shave. According to the article “Youth violence is increasing” by Paul M. Barrett, Judonne shot Jermaine three times in the chest because they had argued about a girl. The dead boy was fifteen years old. The shooter was fourteen. They had been best friends. The conflict could have been solved if Judonne did not have the gun in his hand.
Another shocking incident was published on the first page of the San Diego Union Tribune about three months ago. A sixteen years old boy who was believed a good
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student in Crawford high school was shot in the head while he was driving home on Southbound of Interstate 15 at Junction 52 exit. Authorities believed the crime was committed by gangs members even though the victim was not involved in gangs. The victim’s family said that he actually involved in an altercation with a group in school.
The victims and assailants are getting younger, the fatal disputes even more trivial. “In the three years from 1986 through 1988, 43 juveniles were arrested for homicide. In just 2 years, 1989 and 1990, police arrested 129 juveniles for homicide.” (Paul M. Barrett 18). That was more than threefold.
The stories did not end there. Not too long ago, we all heard about Littleton school shooting. I was shocked and distressed to see SWAT team pulling victims and survivals out of the school windows. Students were running with their hands up for investigating purposes. Teachers were in panic and did not know what to do to help.
The deadly incident effected whom it concerns both physically and mentally.
“Beside a fax machine at a Denver-area-high tech company a few days ago, an employee burst into tears. Though her own children were far from The Littleton, Colo.,high school where 13 people had just been shot to death by two suicidal peers, the mother was to distraught to run the machine, says a co-worker, a marketing specialist who stood nearby. “I’ve used this fax for a year now, and now I’ve put the paper in upside down. I just can’t focus.” The woman said.”(Shellenbarger 1)
The problems and their seriousness seem to be too much while we not yet known how to resolve them. Actually, the government has taken some actions and created programs to deal with bad kids, but those are not really enough so to speak. Proposition
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22, which was recently passed was such a reverse conflict-solving strategy. Prop 22 enforced and put more punishments on criminals at the age of 14. To me, we may never able to reduce violence if we use violent punishments against immature children.
“At Shae Elementary here, children are being taught “non-violent conflict resolution” in special classes led by a team from Washington Hospital Center. But it’s an uphill struggle: When one class of 10- and 11-year-olds is asked how many someone who has been killed, 14 of the 18 students raised their hands and volunteer the circumstances. Brian, a chunky extrovert in the front row, tells of the death of Akim, 18: “They shot him.” Why? “Over a radio.” In the back of the class, Philip, skinny and shy, nods and whispers: I saw a boy shot for his sneakers.”(Barrett 17)
According to “Preventing youth violence” by Flannery, there is no present credible evidence to conclude that today’s violent youth are born this way.
That is why parenting plays the most important role in a person’s life from the day he or she was born to the time when she or he becomes a parent. In other words, the best method to reduce youth violence is prevention.
In every society, not every parent realizes raising a child is not a simply job. It takes times and responsibilities. Since the day the child is born, he or she learns and experiences different things whether it’s good or bad. I recall a TV commercial in the International channel:
“When kids grow up, their hobbies may change?This is the picture of a student who is smoking Heroin. It’s not just that you did not know, but it’s because you wouldn’t believe your child had been doing so.”
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Lack of communicating and understanding your children could possibly cause the disaster. Answering to investigators and reporters, parents of the two gunmen in Colombine high school shooting said they noticed the strangeness of their kids but they ignored because it did not seem to be that serious. Well, they must then had some ideas of how terrible it was when their children turned the automatic gun and killed more than a dozen schoolmates. According to 8 news, experts said the situation could be under control if parents got to spend more time for their kids.
What fathers and mothers should do to avoid such a situation?
“Parenting is a hard work. Christine Munson has always been close to her three children. But lately she has had to work relentless to stay in touch with her oldest, a 16-year-old. She drives with him to his baseball games and takes skiing vacations because he loves them.”(Shellenbarger 2)
“You may try to have a meaningful conversation with him, and he may blow you off three times, but you have to keep trying. You can’t let your feelings get hurt,” says the First Tennessee Corp. executive.
“Ms. Tucker says she lost more time at work since her son became a teenager than when he was younger. Though she doesn’t let her work suffer she stays home a little late very morning to fix him breakfast and spends time at his school. The Littleton shootings, she adds, have made her more aware of staying in touch, being closer, giving attention, watching the moods.”(Shellenbarger 2)
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“Parents must assert their need for flexibility on the job to maintain that delicate balance. You can’t be too tired, you can’t be not available to them when they’re ready to share. You have to put them above your sleep or your own plans.”(Shellenbarger 2)
Kids are meant to be immature people. Kids have full of energy in playing games. Kids are more aggressive than any body. Kids are never prepared when they face the real life.
“Defeat strikes the young the hardest because they least expect it”(Abraham Lincoln)
Parents should be the good models for children to follow. This explains why most of the violent criminals had a bad family background. According to the results of an informal survey that I committed on the Internet, 6 out of 8 underage teenagers said they smoked because their parents did.
The father abuses his wife, and the mother abuses her child. Her child will eventually go on and pick out on their classmates. Separation could also change a child’s life.
In my family, my father has never hit my mother even once. Honestly, my parents are the most important persons in my life. I’ve learned from my Dad how to protect my sister and support the family. I also have learned from my Mom how to love. They are the ones that have had much more influences on me than anybody ever did.
Beside, parents should also focus on the negative effect of media on children. Although newspaper, radio, and television can be sources of information and cultural appreciation, for many our youth it is the media that fosters drug usage, sexual
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promiscuity, and wanton violence and destruction. Through visual images and lyrics, many of our youth are exposed to almost constant messages of destructive behavior. According to Flannery, youngsters who are exposed to these media messages behave more aggressively. Movies like “Scream” and “I know what you did last summer” shows our children nothing but the deadly scene with “creative” ways of killing and hunting their schoolmates. For entire of my life, I will never praise and call the singer group such as Korn or M&M artists. They are nothing but violent kind-of-people. As the matter of fact, the modern media devices and services are designed with parental control function to prevent kids from watching inappropriate materials. Parents have to learn to program and use it effectively. This will help watching their kids while they are at work.
“Video games, TV shows and movies, music and Web sites that celebrate violence figure high on the list of the usual suspects. By any measures, these forms of popular culture have an enormous impact on shaping the imaginations of young people.”(Malcolm 1)
“Many scientists and doctors say there is a link and cite more than 1000 studies that have found a connection. These studies say that seeing violence on TV causes viewers to become less sensitive to the suffering of others, more fearful of the world around them, and more aggressive.”(Mudore 1)
Today’s Internet is an unknown and unlimited information space what almost everyone could gain access to it. So do your children. Solutions for parental control can be found at www.akrontech.com and web sites by searching.
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No matter how worse that situation is, we can not say there’s no solution. William Blake stated:
“Cruelty has a human heart”
In dealing with violent kids or juvenile criminals, it may be a great help if we can find out what they like to be involved. One boy may not have many hobbies, but he must at least be interesting in something. Then, we should recognize develop it to show that they are useful to the community. According to the article “Crime prevention programs reduce youth violence” in Youth Violence book by the Milton, head start should be expanded to the four out of five eligible disadvantaged children who presently are left out. Youths shouldn’t receive harsh punishment. Death penalty absolutely shouldn’t be imposed.
Lives can be partly depended on the society. In United States of America, we have many advantages than any other country in the world. A strong economy can change and improve enormous lives. Obviously, we don’t face the poverty problem like they do in Vietnam, where kids have to work two or three shifts a day or even fight for their meal. However, government didn’t do their best so far toward the juvenile crisis that we are facing. Professor Farahoni who teaches Political Science at San Diego Mesa College said:
“The Congress of United States does not represent US citizens.” Democracy supposedly represents the majority who is the worker class in America. Congress does not support workers! How is it possible for them to support our children?
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We should take a closer look right at our San Diego-the American finest city. Recently, they decided to close down the homeless shelter due to insufficient funding. In fact, there’s not much funding available for children either. Now this is ridiculous! Aren’t we tearing down buildings in downtown to build a ballpark that’s worth more than three hundreds million dollars? Plus, the state surplus today reaches the amount of 13 billion dollars. That’s a total of 13 thousands million dollars beyond the state budget. In stead of turning away from bad kids and juvenile criminals, we can use this money to build more counseling facility or special training center.
If we put a great expectation on our future generation, the keywords are preventing, restoring, and restituting. As the parents, you should start talking to your kids if you haven’t done so. Paying close attention to your children to prevent breaking in connection with them when they grow up. Eventually, voting may change your future. Putting all efforts at the time, then you may expect to see a brighter future.
Barrett, P.(1992). Youth Violence. San Diego: Greenhaven
Flannery, R.(1999). Preventing youth violence: A guide for parents, teachers, and counselor. New York: Continuum.
Malcolm, Teresa. “Teen Violence: Does Violent Media Make Violent Kids?” National Catholic Reporter May 1999: 14-15.
Mudore, Constance. “Does TV Violence Kill?” Current Health 2 Feb 2000: 24-26
Shellenbarger, Sue. “Violence in Schools Is Pushing Parents to Focus on Teens.” Wall Street Journal Apr 1999: B1