Why is There an Increase in Crime Amongst Teenagers Today?

In many countries today, we see a rapid increase in the standards of living. People all around the world are enjoying better homes, a wider variety of entertainment and higher incomes. However, tainting this improved life-style is a horrific rise in crime amongst teenagers today. One cannot help but wonder if the increased crime rate has direct relation to the so-called `new age' in living.

In my opinion, the fierce competition to succeed in the world is definitely a contributing factor to the increased crime rate amongst teenagers. Firstly, parents who are caught in the struggle to improve their life-styles may often leave their children unattended at home. Whilst at work, parents have little or no knowledge of the company that their children keep. In this way, teenagers, who are naturally curious, often fall victim to a host of negative influences.

To compensate for their absence from home, parents may buy expensive gifts for their children. In time, teenagers may form the attitude that luxuries do not have to be earned. With this ingrained in their impressionable minds, some teenagers tend to think nothing of stealing simply because they are so used to getting what they want.

In some cases, teenagers may resort to crime in order to gain attention from either society or their parents. With more and more parents away from home chasing the `good-life', neglected children sometimes break laws to gain sympathy from society and more concern and attention from the family.

We have looked at the teenagers who have too much or at least enough, but we must not fail to examine the causes that affect the rising crime rate amongst poor and needy teenagers. Mesmerised by glossy advertisements on television and in magazines, many teenagers are enticed by the love of wealth and the luxuries that wealth can give. Many thus steal or even kill to obtain money or luxuries. Therefore, I think that the wide range of people that the mass media has reached in recent years has also led to the increase of crime amongst teenagers.

Moreover, the mass media encourages the perception that one is at a disadvantage if excluded from the beautiful people who enjoy good food, fast cars and dazzling ,jewellery. Pressure to belong to this ,jet-set may also prompt teenagers to compete amongst themselves to own branded goods. For some, it may start as harmless fun, but more often . than not, the challenge of stealing a tiny article soon .grows into larger and larger stakes. Before long, some teenagers totally succumb to their peers' influence and steal not for the fun and excitement, but for the compulsion to possess luxuries.

Many movies have been made to glamorise crime. Movies such as `The Goodfellas', `The Untouchables' and `The Godfather' trilogy all show how murder and extortion can bear fruit in the form of beautiful women, lots of cash and a string of Ferraris. Although most of the characters are killed or jailed in the end, teenagers are still in awe of the risk-taking and the exhilaration that it brings, even if it is just for a moment. Having seen such movies, teenagers have `heroes' to emulate. An innocent viewing of a movie can have a deep subconscious influence if not handled properly, especially with the more violent and explicit films of today.

One obvious but certainly difficult way to curb the increasing crime rate amongst teenagers is to ensure that parents give proper time and attention to their children. Parents should also make themselves available to their children to discuss their problems. If parents find the need to compensate for their absence, they should show love and concern, not generosity with money.

Counselling services like the Samaritans of Singapore are also a great help to frustrated teenagers who otherwise may turn to crime. In China, there was an overwhelming response to a newly introduced switchboard service that caters to troubled youth. Young people are free to express anger and grief anonymously. Just having a listening ear which responds to their pleas for attention can greatly soothe them and may keep them out of trouble.

Promotion of wholesome living by the mass media can also help keep the crime rate in check. Schools should also inculcate the virtue of hard work and self-respect in the individual. Of course, these are all preventive measures. Corrective measures are reformatory schools with close supervision.

It is indeed worrisome that more and more teenagers are lured into a life of crime. As members of society, we must help put a stop to this rapid increase in the crime rate by making ourselves available to help them, for example, as counsellors.