Topic :
Juvenile Crime
General Purposes
: To Persuade
Good morning and I would like to thank to
Madam Roslinda and my fellow friends because give me opportunity to give a
speech and this morning I would like to
talk about causes of juvenile crime.
A
juvenile is defined as not yet adult; young, childish, immature. In the United
States, definitions and age limits of juveniles vary. The 16-20 year old age
group has one of the highest incidences of serious crime. In 1994, juveniles
accounted for 19% of all violent crime arrests in The United States. Although
juvenile arrests for violent crimes declined 3% from 1994-1995 (the first
decrease in almost ten years), the number of juvenile violent crime arrests in
1995 was 67% above the 1986 level. Among juvenile offenders, males make up 85%
of the total arrests for violent crime index offenses. Furthermore, the
increasingly high rates of juvenile delinquency are a great problem in modern
society. Other than that, more and more people are paying special attention to
it. There are mainly three causes of this problem-the negative influence of
mass media, young people's tendency to be rebellious and high divorce rates.
First
of all, the first reason of the high rates of juvenile delinquency is the
negative influence of commercialized mass media. Publishers of books or program
producers are more concerned with profits than with the quality. Thus books or
movies may have negative effects on children. Taken obscene books and violence
movies as examples. In addition, they
are very dangerous to children. Once the children are exposed to violence or
bad and dirty ideas are introduced into their mind, there will be lifelong
harm. Some young children watch hours of murders, fights and crimes every week,
with no adult to tell them that life is not like that most of them. The effect
of the heavy does of violence is to suggest to children that violence is an
ordinary way of life, and that shooting and cheating are ways to succeed. Such
an misbelieve usually leads them to a wrong way in near future.
The
second reason of high rates of juvenile crime is that modern youth are more
revolutionary and more independent that the elder generation. Yet, when this tendency goes to an extreme,
problems arise. Some of the young want to throw away all the traditional
principles and beliefs, most of which are very good for self-cultivation. They
are reluctant to listen to the advice from elder generation. If they behave in
the way, as they like, they might commit crimes without realizing it.
The
third significant factor of juvenile crime is the increasing number of
single-parent families. Studies show that juvenile-delinquency rates are twice
as high for youngsters from single-parent homes as for those in traditional
households. Moreover, children in single-parent families are taken less care of
and thus have feelings of being neglected, discriminated and isolated. The lack
of parental love makes them hostile and cynical towards the society.
In
conclusion, there are several ways to prevent the youth from committing crimes.
Firstly, school education plays an important role to teach traditional beliefs.
Secondly, the present situation also calls for a control and supervision on the
mass media. Books and programs should be in good quality. There should be more
educational books and programs for young children in to tell them how to
distinguish the right from the wrong. Thirdly, mutual understanding between
parents and children is also very important. Parental supervision and guidance
are a key factor of self-cultivation in lifetime. The two generations need to
smooth away disagreement. Parents can spend much time staying with their
children and patiently carry out the duty of family education.
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