Reducing Juvenile Delinquency free essay sample

Reducing Juvenile Delinquency ABSTRACT There are many different parts of the Criminal Justice system. This paper will bring about the argument of how we can reduce Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. When a child is born he has no way of knowing he will become a bad element of society. There are many reasons that a child can turn to the bad elements of crime. We must ask ourselves, â€Å"why does this happen†? What can we as adults do to help the children of America stay on the right track? The bible states that a child is accountable for his own actions beginning at the age of 12 but what can we do as parents before that age to ensure that our children grow up and be a successful part of the communities which they live in? We can no longer afford to leave it to the teachers or the principle or even the church to change our children, we must be the one to turn our children around so that they can have the future that you have nurtured them for. Reducing Juvenile Delinquency The topic that I chose to write about is Criminal Justice and reducing juvenile delinquency. In every city in the United States there is an epidemic of juvenile delinquency. The problem is everywhere and it leaves most Americans to wonder what will happen to this generation of young kids that have developed their own system of justice called, â€Å"street justice†. There are many reasons that a child turns to the streets as a way of life and we must ask the question, why? What went wrong in this child’s life that made him take that path in life? When a child is first born into this world, the parents have many hopes and dreams for him. The first thing we think about is what profession the child will be a part of. Will he be a doctor, lawyer, brain surgeon, etc? We have big dreams for our children and we do the best that we can to nurture them to be all that they can be. We learn from the bible that we are accountable for our children’s actions and behavior until the age of 12 yrs old. After that, the child is held accountable to God for their sins. Many households across the United States have teenagers that for the most have done everything right in their young lives. There are also those teenagers that have chose to do everything wrong, totally forgetting everything they were taught as a young child. These teenagers want to make their own set of rules to live by which always ends up bad for them. What is it that makes a young child turn into a â€Å"juvenile delinquent†? Whenever we ask this question, most people will look at the parents for that answer. It’s so easy to put the blame on the parents for working too much, not being there when the children are out of school either because they have to work two jobs or they have other activities that occupy them other than the children at home. It is very easy for a child to get caught up in the life of juvenile delinquency if there is no boundaries set forth by the parents. Some parents are afraid to set boundaries for fear the child will not like them, or they prefer to be a friend to their child instead of a parent. There is no way that a parent can be both. When the child faces puberty there is mixed emotions that come with it. They want to be accepted and most times that comes at a price. There are many teenagers that are introduced to crime such as shoplifting, fighting, and skipping school to go and hang out at the mall. This almost always leads to becoming a juvenile delinquent. Once these things are introduced to them at a young age, they feel that it’s a part of who they are and it makes them cool, this is how they become juvenile delinquents. The juvenile justice system is filled with young offenders as young as 12-13 all the way up to 16-17. We look to blame the parents for the behavior of the child but that is not always the case. I know many families that have both mother and father in the home and have a good home life for the kids and still there is one child in the home that will make the decision to let the streets dictate what they will and will not do with their lives. The laws for juveniles are very vague which gives these teenagers the idea that they will just get a slap on the wrist each time they get into trouble so they continue to break the law. There must be more options for these kids other than just incarceration or boot camps. These facilities should be utilized for the more dangerous offenders that commit the more violent crimes. Juveniles that are arrested for shoplifting or fighting need to have more counseling offered to them. Parents can try and reach out to these kids but I see it all too often that it takes more than one parent talking to the child, it takes the entire community to step up and help the parents to turn these kids around. I truly believe that anyone can change if they want it bad enough and a lot of these ids are crying out for attention but they feel getting into trouble is the only way they will be heard. When I was a young child our neighbors always kept an eye out for us if mom was at work and we were left with an older sibling. A lot has changed since then and neighbors no longer want to get involved with other people’s children. I think that is a sad state of affairs in our society. As a society if everyone would stop being so self-centered in their own lives, then our children would follow by our example and I truly believe they would change their lives for the better. There are many children out there that have awesome potential to be whatever they ewant to be besides being a juvenile delinquent. The jails are overcrowded with adults and now the teenagers are becoming more like the adult offenders because they don’t have the right direction. It’s not too late to get it right, our kids are our future. We must do more to invest more in them so that they can know without a doubt that they are loved. Once they feel that, they won’t be so eager to turn to the streets for love and identity.