Summary
Should we punish parents and caregivers for their children's actions? Should we put children up in motels under government supervision? Should parents turn in their own children to police? There is even a general sense it is adults who permit kids' crime to happen. There is also a general sense adults are somehow responsible for not only our own children, but also the children of others who need care and instruction, or protection. There is a further general sense that parents and caregivers cannot do the job of raising children properly on their own -- that society must play a role beyond policing and child-protection services. Leaving children to their own devices affects us all and also suggests that all adults are somehow to blame.
First, he says, our electronic media makes no distinctions between adults and children. Thus, children see and hear people (sometimes other children) using adult language, wearing adult clothes, gambling, engaged in casual sexual activity, using drugs and alcohol, promoting violence -- the list is endless. He claims children have not acquired the mental wherewithal to judge those images and their consequences appropriately.We might note that what serves as censorship, exploitation and oppression for adults may in fact be necessary for children to allow them to develop proper attitudes and behaviours. For example, children and young people should not be exposed to adult entertainment, not be permitted to engage in adult situations and not be free to come and go as they please. Put another way, some of the basic freedoms adults take for granted to live full and meaningful lives.See the full content of this document
Extract
Youth Crime Points to a Larger Social Problem
JOHN WIENS
CHILDREN involved in crime is one of the most serious and disturbing societal issues of our times. Recent events are stark reminders that crime has ceased to be exclusively an adult activity. The Free Press has helped to raise the questions all a...See the full content of this document
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