Logic and critical thinking class - Research Paper Example

This paper, therefore, discusses children as victims or media victimize offenders in a crime. As a result, it discusses the manner in which media conduct interviews and news coverage, whether they stick to legal requirements, and access the manner in which children are victimized in the reporting processes. Victimization of Children Currently, media is seen as a source of all social problems in the world. Media not only provides access to but also constructs social problems in view of their multiple effects on people.

It has been blamed by wide group of people including critics and theorists for promoting crimes against humanity such as violence, sexism, racism, homophobia, and other oppressive phenomena. Media has caused social harm by negatively influencing children and youth, pornography, degradation of women, and promotion of excessive materialism (Tandon, 2007). There is rising concern over issues to do with media interviewing victims at the wrong time, recording and airing clips of bodies, revealing the negative sides only, revealing identity of juveniles, and inappropriate digging into the past of victims.

The media coverage on crime gives rise to increased responses from community, which include vigilance, sorrow, revenge, and caution. A critical exploration of social media coverage of crime victims is crucial in the development of crime policy and popular imagination. Not all victims of a crime receive equal treatment in the social media news. In most cases, intense media coverage is devoted to victims with a questionable past are regarded as ‘ideal’. The ideal victims refer to a person or individuals who receive a legitimate status of being a victim upon being hit by a crisis (Tandon, 2007).

This category of victims includes defenseless, innocent, vulnerable, and worthy of sympathy victims. Elderly women and children categorically fit into this group. On the contrary, young men, homeless people, drug addicts, and others marginalized in the society may find it difficult to attain the status of legitimate victims (Nielson, 2003). In addition, media may misrepresent, under-represent, or over-represent victims of crime. Since children and adolescents are seen as future leaders, any engagement in deviant practices is viewed as declination of the society into moral chaos.

The concentration on children means that deviant behaviours lead to more victimization than would have been involved if adults were involved. Under the law, children are not deviant from birth. Their behaviour is influenced by socio-economic factors and psychological problems. The law therefore, protects children and provides them with facilities for rehabilitation. The Rights of the Child in the UN Convention states that one is regarded a child until he or she reaches the age of 18. Consequently, the juvenile Act of 2000 also mentions that 18 years is the age of children.

Therefore, it is illegal to publish or air any information regarding persons less than 18 years in the media. However, it is common to spot violation of this law in the media. The analysis below proves the claim (Fritz, 1992). In an article that appeared in Times of India in 2003, two children were published as being responsible for heinous crimes. Indeed, their actions were strange and needed condemnation; however, the media should have exercised some strain in reporting the crimes since the victims were minors.

The article portrayed a very negative