Crimes committed by teenagers - Essay Example

Families should be responsible for crimes committed by teenagers Society today struggles ethically to instill discipline and moral support in teenagers so as to reduce the level of crime. Crime rate among the youth has continued to be rampant all over the world. This increasing rate of crime is alarming. This has not only caused fear among parents who have had to bear with such teenagers but most governments have been worried over the same. This essay aims at looking at some of the reasons why parents should be held responsible for crimes committed by teenagers. Some of the crimes committed by teenagers have either been orchestrated to fellow teenagers or adults and perhaps even children. The bottom line is that laws have not been very strict on holding responsibility against the crimes committed by teenagers along with their parents (Jacobs 2003). Families should be held responsible because most parents raise their children under environments that are not healthy for the teens’ general growth. For instance, there are parents who do not monitor their children’s movements in terms of those they relate with. They are always very business minded to an extent that they are not concerned with the teens. Such children have always found the freedom to indulge in criminal activities due to peer pressure. They do so because they want to fit into such groups of friends or in other words, they want to belong to the class that is domineering. This might be done for fun or it can also be done out of habit. As Allen (1996) observes, in many parts of the world, some teens have been engaged in criminal activities because their families do not want to take up responsibilities. So many teens have been neglected by family members who leave them to fend for themselves due to economic hardship, or perhaps because of their (family) negligence. In order to make ends meet such teens have always found themselves doing such criminal activities like robbing with violence. Teens might also find themselves committing criminal activities as a way of revenging for what society has done to them - they will always feel that society has forgotten them, and that they are the wretched of the earth. Fourthly, some families have either knowingly or unknowingly entrusted their teenage children with a lot of decision making. It must be understood that in as much as a teen may tend to be mature, one thing families should know is that such children might not be physically or emotionally mature for such decision making. They are sometimes bound to make very wrong decision, which may result into criminal activities. The law should not be lenient to such family members because it is their responsibility to instill discipline and to control them until they reach the maturity stage where they can be left to take up their personal responsibilities. Making parents pay for the crimes committed by their teenage children along with their teens is something which should not be debated on. It is the best way to make the family members a bit careful with their teens as it will ensure that children are not just materially taken care of but it will ensure that their moral guidance remains their ultimate goal. There are parents or family members who have directly lured the teens into crimes. Example of cases that have been witnessed in the past is that of some family members trying to engage the female teens into prostitution. Such family members have taken advantage of the vulnerability of the female teens to make money. Moreover, some of the family members also use the teenagers as sales agents for their illegally acquired properties or to illegal drugs. Cases have also been reported where teens are taught by family members some illegal expertise like shop lifting, pick pocketing and other dangerous activities. Such parents should not be left scot free. Punishing those family members and parents who ruin the lives of such teens should be carried out in order to serve as example to the rest. In their stages of development, most teenagers need affection from their family members. The moment their friends and family members fail to provide that affection and love needed, they seek it elsewhere. Sometimes, they may be forced to indulge in criminal activities as a means of compensating for the love they do not get from parents. Once they begin, for instance, to smoke or steal so as to get what they miss from their family members, it is difficult to shape their personal lives once again to deviate from the newly acquired behavior (Freeman & Goodenough, 2009). Nwankwo (2011), states that integrity and discipline of parents and older family members have at times been questionable. There are reported cases of parents leading by bad example. For instance, what is expected of a teenage girl or boy who is picked by a parent on a drinking or killing spree? That teenager will learn the same trick and will practice it somewhere else. Going by the statistics, about 2.5 million juveniles are being arrested every year in America and about 70% of those released end up committing the same crime again. This figure indicates that once a teenager gets deeply rooted into criminal activities, it becomes almost impossible to make him change. The earlier the parents take necessary measures, the better. Before we put the blame on parents or families at large for the crimes committed by their children, it should be noted that getting the root cause of the problem is the most convenient way of getting solutions to help teenagers get away from criminal activities. Families should be held accountable for the crimes committed by their children since most of them tend to be too busy to have time for moral guidance of their children. Since this is the stage that is usually characterized by a lot of adventure and self discovery, teenagers need the support of their families since most of them will find it hard to control themselves when faced with a situation that questions their assertiveness. However, most families the world over have not been keen to offer the moral support needed. This has resulted in crimes that have been detrimental to the lives of such teenagers. I do not imply that parents should control the uncontrollable teens, what I mean is that they should do their level best to inculcate the best moral values, and to be able to teach their children to differentiate right from wrong at an earlier stage rather than waiting until the situation gets out of hand. Moral values involve even teaching them how to control emotional behaviors such as how to cope with stress, anger and peer-pressure. References Allen, R. (1996). Children and Crime: Taking responsibility. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. Freeman, M. D. & Goodenough, O.R. (2009). Law, mind and Brain. Burlington: Ashgate Publishers. Jacobs, T. (2003). They Broke the Law, You be The Judge. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishers. Nwankwo, P.O. (2011). Criminology and Criminal Justice Systems of the World: A comparative perspective. Bloomington: Trafford Publishers. Read More