Tin Tức

Juvenile crimes are by no means a foreign phenomenon to any society, but there has admittedly been a rising trend of youths committing crimes of various scales in many parts of the world. Time and again, this has been attributed to a lack of parenting skills allegedly prevalent among young parents, mostly by folks from previous generations. However, this could not be further from the multi-faceted truth behind such a phenomenon. The rise of juvenile crimes could be easily traced back to a multitude of problems only known to the people of today, for this is the only time in problems such as burnout and overexposure to information have ever existed. Youths who commit crimes must undoubtedly be tried as well, though often to a lesser extent. However, as opposed to correctional facilities, criminal youths are often sent to youth detention centres where they will be under the supervision and management of the appropriate government body.

Only a very small and superficial part of what is alleged of young parents as mentioned above is true. While it is often the case that lacklustre parenting often plays a key role in the misguided actions of youth, one would be astute to look beyond the blatant accusations of laziness aimed at these poor parents, many of whom are just trying to do their best. Many of the allegedly negative influences in a child’s life are often outside of the parents’ control, in one way or the other. For example, it has never been harder to monitor the content consumed by your child, much of which could be detrimental to the child’s development. Given how easily accessible information and media are nowadays, children often unknowingly expose themselves to content not meant for them, instilling in these youths ideas that they are too young to classify as right or wrong. Being a parent has also never been harder. Back then, parents used to have time to spend with their children after work, but now work has permeated so far into the lives of people that that is no longer a luxury many have. Given said current trends, it is only understandable that many youths do not receive enough affection and supervision from parents to learn the differences between right and wrong, as well as for parents to spot the early signs of wrongdoing.

Youths who commit crimes need to be taught to distinguish between what is right and wrong, and this needs to take place under the form of correctional programs and being tried in juvenile court. In very severe cases, youths who have committed crimes of especially serious severity may need to be tried as adults, though that is a topic for a discussion. In said programs, these youths must be taught societal values held as the norm in society. Furthermore, they need to be reprimanded just as adult criminals are though, as mentioned, to a lesser extent. Many youths in juvenile detention centre are often made to perform community services for a number of hours before they are returned their full
freedom. However, it should be noted that juvenile detention centres are not meant to detain its occupants as do adult correctional facilities. They are meant to allow the government to act as these youths’ parents for a set time, once again hinting at the role parents play in the wrongdoings of youth.

Juveniles are, at the end of the day, adults at the most mentally fickle stage of their life, evident in the fact that most juvenile crimes are emotionally charged. For that reason, it is important that we give due considerations to cases where these youths are involved to deliver a judgement that is fair not only with regards to the crime committed, but also the child’s upbringing.

VOCABULARY:

Foreign (adj): Lạ
Phenomenon (n): Hiện tượng

Scale (n): Quy mô
Allege (v): Cho là
Multitude (n): Nhiều
Burnout (n): Trạng thái mệt mỏi
Exposure (n): Sự tiếp xúc
Commit (crime) (n): Gây (án)
Try (v): Xét xử
Correctional facility (n): Tù
Youth detention centre (n): Trung tâm giam giữ cho thiếu niên
Lacklustre (adj): Kém chất lượng
Misguided (adj): Lạc lối
Blatant (adj): Trơ trẽn
Detrimental (adj): Gây hại
Permeate (v): Thâm nhập