It is a common school of thought that the best way to reduce crime rate is letting ex-prisoners have interactive conversations about consequences of breaking the law with youngsters. Although I agree that teenagers can learn about the devastating results after committing a crime, I hold the view that there are better ways to convey the messages to young people compared to conversations with criminals.
On the one hand, there are various reasons why interacting with ex-prisoners is advantageous to teens. Firstly, when listening to a real crime story about the cost that prisons have to pay for what they have done and what victims have suffered, adolescents might acknowledge not only the consequences that breaking a law may have on themselves and others but also their obligation to be good citizens. Secondly, since these stories are often persuasive and vivid, it can attract students easily, and as a result, they might listen to it carefully rather than long and unappealing lectures about criminals at school. While engaging in a face-to-face conversation with used-to-be wrongdoers, youngsters can interact with and ask questions directly to them, which consequently can raise their awareness about unlawful actions.
On the other hand, I believe that there are better alternatives to help young people aware about the hazardous effect of crime. According to some scientific researches, family has a profound effect on the development of every individual, and therefore I believe domestic education plays an indispensable role in illustrating the dangers of criminal activities. Besides that, school should include classes about enforcing the law and the dangers of lawbreakers, and in this way, juveniles can learn about crime and moral lessons actively. Taking Vietnam as an example, because they have provided extra classes and projects where students can watch documentary movies, reporting and news about crime, the juveniles can learn about the effect of crime vicariously, which as a result, leads to a considerable decrease in the juvenile crime rate in this country.
All things considered, I disagree that a talk show with ex-offenders is the best way of crime prevention for the reasons I mentioned above.