The latest research shows that there is a rising trend of adolescents committing crime with victims. The explanation often given by psychologists reveals that the main reason for violent crimes is that, nowadays, children are not taught the social and emotional skills from both parents and teachers. I mildly agree with this point, and in this essay I will give reasons behind my opinion.
On the one hand, the role of parents and teachers in children’s upbringing is vital. It cannot be denied that adults do not allocate adequate time to teach their children social and emotional skills due to the busy schedule. Parents tend to work day and night in order to provide for their family; teachers ,simultaneously, do not pay enough attention to childrens’ understanding about crime and violence by focusing on only teaching major subjects. Consequently, a rift is being created between adolescents and their caretakers. As a result, a lack of teaching from caretakers leads to surge in violent crimes.
On the other hand, not only the attention from their caretakers, but also from their social circle is also crucial in terms of violent crime. Youngsters are heavily influenced by their peers and the social media. Normalization of violence in social media is widespread, so crime is not often considered as ruthless behaviour. For example, a plethora of contemporary social media apps allow instant sharing of violent video content and the children appear to do it at schools. Therefore, addition to violence can be caused by peer pressure decreasing their self esteem. Hence, in order to feel a sense of belonging, they can participate in criminal actions and demonstrate the wrong behaviour.
In conclusion, although social and emotional learning from adults is significant, people also have to take into account children’s social circle and the content that they face in social media.