Rising juvenile crime rates have long been a topic of concern. While some believe this can be attributed to frequent depictions of violence in media, others contend there are deeper root causes, such as a lack of quality education and socio-economic factors. I concur with the latter to argue that the main cause of juvenile delinquency is not violence in the media, and will accordingly explore potential solutions to the issue.
Although children and adolescents have undoubtedly been exposed to rising numbers of violent scenes in recent years, it has a negligible impact on their behaviour when compared to that of their socioeconomic status. The amount of funds that the minor’s family has access to directly impacts their quality of education and living. Since these experiences are lived daily, children’s behaviours are naturally influenced by these repeated exposures to the same stimuli. For instance, A family that struggles to provide adequate, nourishing meals for their children may unintentionally prompt them to steal food in order to meet biological demands. Without proper disciplinary action, the child may become accustomed to minor theft, growing up to have a tendency towards committing small crimes for personal benefit.
Consequently, rehabilitation is the optimal deterrent to such actions. By reinforcing the theoretically known ramifications of crime, the youth not only face the consequences of their actions, but are given an opportunity to make behavioural amendments. Armed with an understanding of why their actions were wrongful, and what should be performed instead, those that are growing up will learn to value law abiding behaviours.
In summary, the media only plays a minor role in the criminality of juveniles. Family upbringing and education about moral rights and wrongs are the dominant contributors to how they behave. With rehabilitation and continued positive reinforcement, crime rate can be drastically reduced.