It is believed that parents who spend a lot of time at work are to be blamed for antisocial behavior of teenagers in some countries. I partially agree with this as parents’ lack of involvement is only one cause behind the problem, which is also a result of negative influence of their peers.
Teenagers neglected by ever-absent parents are more prone to antisocial behaviours as there is nobody to provide them guidance and control. At such a young age, children lack the maturity to have a strong moral compass which could help them see social implications and bear responsibilities for their actions. For this reason, it becomes parents’ prime responsibility to instill proper values in their children and make them aware of the consequences of their actions, thus helping their children regulate their behaviour. However, when parents are overly busy at work, they cannot be physically present in their children’s life, leaving them to their own devices. This lack of supervision of their parents often results in behaviours that are against social norms, be it bullying classmates, vandalism or shoplifting.
Moreover, lack of supervision from their parents leaves teenagers more susceptible to negative peer pressure which can lead them in bad directions. By their nature, children tend to blindly copy their peers, however antisocial their behaviour is. As a result of this copying, children can get involved in marginalized communities. In such gangs, illegal actions are acceptable and even expected to deserve peers’ respect and fit in, which is of high value in a teenager’s world.
In conclusion, I agree that ever-busy parents who are not present in their children’s life to guide and control them are responsible for social problems involving teenagers, but they bear only part of this responsibility. Another powerful factor is peer pressure children are constantly exposed to. In pursuit of being respected and accepted in their peer group, children resort to any behaviours, including those contradicting social norms