Juvenile delinquency as a social malaise has been a matter of growing concern for the nation. With the crime graph involving young teens showing a steep rise over the past few years, lawmakers have been compelled to amend the earlier laws to contain the rising menace of criminal offences by young persons. Yet these efforts have hardly proved to be deterrents and the complicity of youngsters in petty to serious offences continue to be reported from different parts of the country.
Much has been said about addiction to cell-phones that afflicts the younger generation today. Mobiles as an educational accessory have proved their worth, but it is the time-wasting obsessions that consume the child that is more worrisome.
Moreover the craze for the latest versions of the handsets points to a trend where unfulfilling the persistent demands of their children and wards has sometimes placed parents and guardians in some really awkward positions. Stealing of cell-phones, for instance!
Having resided in Goa for the past four-and-half decades, I can only correlate events that have any bearing to the subject under discussion with those which have occurred locally. Similar incidents being reported from other parts of the country cannot be disregarded either.
The alleged theft of mobile phones from parked vehicles of visitors to the Pal waterfall in the Sattari taluka by a gang of schoolboys is no doubt an alarming piece of news, but a criminal wrongdoing nevertheless that needs to be dealt with sternly. However, the contention that the theft was committed by the school students to satisfy their craving for owning cell-phones appears too silly.
When it has been revealed that the school kids were in the habit of opening the doors and rummaging through the vehicles parked near the picnic spot and might have made away with valuables in the past as well, it is obvious that these boys have a criminal bent of mind and need to be corrected.
Moreover, the submission that the crime was commissioned after learning the technique of opening seats of two-wheelers by watching videos on social media brings to fore the severity of their criminal tendencies.
Nevertheless, the argument that the mobile phones were returned to the rightful owners is no justification for the police to have treated the whole issue with kid gloves.
Bearing in mind the trend that is making seasoned criminals out of such juveniles, it would have been appropriate for the minor boys to undergo a period of ‘correctional’ counselling with the primary goal of making them shun their despicable ways.
The fact that all these minors are in their penultimate year of schooling is however a matter of serious concern. The theft should definitely serve as an eye-opener to parents, teachers, heads of schools and education department officials. Schools have been established to create good human beings who can make a positive contribution to society, not to train criminals. Character-building is an important aspect of child development and ought to assume the core curriculum in every school.
Initially such misdemeanours are overlooked as pranks by school authorities and parents alike. It is only when the seriousness of the whole matter comes to light that the elders are stirred into action. But by then it is too late. If only the parents and teachers were to realise that a watchful eye over the child would save them tons of grief later on! Yet, while we speak about young offenders, criminal records indicate a special ‘category’ which does not come under the ambit of juveniles nor are they ‘qualified’ enough to be called mature adults.
Much has been heard about juvenile delinquency and the concerns shown to arrest the malaise. But what about crimes by youngsters in the age bracket of 20/21 years! An age-group that is never taken seriously for its manners and actions, there is a propensity to nurture a feeling that these two years could well be the ‘prelims’ for their ‘graduation’ as grown-ups. Hence it is essential to consider the age of 20/21 as truly formative years of an individual’s life when a person ventures forth in life with clear-cut perceptions about the right and wrongs in life and where he/she is purely responsible for his/her actions in life.
The armed assault and dacoity case reported from Guirdolim in South Goa some time back portends a dangerous trend where more and more youngsters are being drawn into a life of crime unmindful of the consequences.
With the arrest of the two youth accused for their complicity in the offence the police could well pat itself for the breakthrough achieved in record time. But the alarming rise in the involvement of juveniles in various crimes should caution the police against this new ‘phenomenon’ observed recently where young lads barely out of their teens are rubbing shoulders with more seasoned criminals in pursuit of a career which could only lead them to a life behind bars.
Even so, this has not deterred the youngsters from dabbling in petty crimes to graduate into more sinister ones that mark their initiation into the major league. From drug peddling to daring daylight robberies, adolescent crime involvement is indeed assuming alarming proportions.
It is observed that experiences in adolescence may have a lasting impact on adulthood, and when these encounters leave impressions that are criminal in nature in the minds of the youngsters, a retarded psyche is what they will be bestowed with.
Youth crime is an inevitable part of the modern society and continues to haunt it with a regularity that is worrisome. Moreover, when police reports suggest that those apprehended for the crimes are from well-to-do families and don’t have the poverty factor to lament about it becomes all the more confusing.
Dazzling lifestyles have been the bane of the modern youth. A penchant for living life in the fast lane has often seen youngsters turning to a life of crime to give wings to their fancies. Unknowingly they chart a course which leads to an uncertain future.
With many young offenders becoming habitual criminals, tackling youth crime is now an imperative. Although many such reasons have been proffered for the tendency shown by youngsters to embark on a life of crime, let us admit that there has been a lack of sincere efforts at understanding and preventing youth crime.