The increasingly high rates of juvenile delinquency
are a great problem in modern society. 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.
The first reason of the high rates of juvenile
delinquency is the negative influence of
commercialized mass media. Publishers of books or
programme 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. 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 a misbelief 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. 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. 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.
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 programmes
should be in good quality. There should be more
educational books and programmes 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
