The subject matter of ‘Juvenile Delinquency’ is far too complex a theme to be assessed or even properly evaluated in a simple article such
as this.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, juvenile delinquency is ‘criminal behaviour carried out by a non-adult…’
To accurately define may be impossible, but to evaluate the way in which society judges those who fall under this term of ‘juvenile delinquency’ would not be very hard.
By simply examining the words we associate to the term (such as violence, vandalism, drugs, rape, robbery and fighting, etc), it is plain to see
they all originate from a pool of negative and immoral lexis.
Nevertheless it would be wrong to think that negative features of society, including the widespread availability and consumption of alcohol, are not contributing to the detriment of
the juvenile.
Our youths of today find sex, drugs and alcohol, and the pressure to indulge in them impossible to resist. Whether it be from friends, television,
Internet, publications and even now billboards on the streets, the message society sends to the juvenile is to over indulge in pleasure and practise the activities that can provide it, forgetting to add that they are also deemed as immoral, illegal and will more than likely cause huge problems in the way you live your life. A
Utopian lifestyle where liberal sex does not produce sexually transmitted diseases, excessive alcohol never leads to addictions and illegal drugs are
safe to use even though you are never sure what you are taking in.
“IF PARENTS DON’T RAISE THEIR CHILDREN, THEN THEIR PEERS AND THE MASS MEDIA WILL, AND SOCIETY MAY NOT BE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS.” - Stephen Johnson.
In a society where parents are spending lesser time with their children, and are replaced with pop superstars and movie actors/actresses, how can we expect the lifestyle of our
young ones to remain good and moral? If their newfound role models are sexually promiscuous,smoke and drink heavily, use crime to fund a lazy lifestyle, are violent towards each other, degrading towards the opposite sex and ‘get away with it’, can the juvenile really be blamed for becoming delinquent claiming full responsibility for his or her acts of immorality? Ultimately, yes. Because the first
and most valuable lesson society will teach us all, even if our parents refuse to, is that everyone suffers the consequences of their own
actions.
young ones to remain good and moral? If their newfound role models are sexually promiscuous,smoke and drink heavily, use crime to fund a lazy lifestyle, are violent towards each other, degrading towards the opposite sex and ‘get away with it’, can the juvenile really be blamed for becoming delinquent claiming full responsibility for his or her acts of immorality? Ultimately, yes. Because the first
and most valuable lesson society will teach us all, even if our parents refuse to, is that everyone suffers the consequences of their own
actions.
This article is dedicated to Viggo Frank. Thank you, once again, for suggesting this topic.