Recent figures show an increase in violent crime among youngsters under the age of 18. Some psychologists claim that the basic reason for this is that children these days are not getting the social and emotional learning they need from parents and teachers. Is this true? What are the solutions?
The increasing crime is a definite cause for worry, not only for parents and teachers but also for society in general. That will be even scarier to acknowledge that the increase mainly happened in the teenage age group. Most people related this trend to adolescents’ lack of social and emotional learning. However, it is possible that other factors, such as unhappiness with the family and the government, can also be a significant cause.
Social and emotional learning points to how people are raised. They are, most commonly, brought up by parents and teachers. Everyone will spend some time with their family and the rest with friends at school. Both parents and teachers may fail to answer the need of a particular child. However, this is only a good answer for a specific incident where the kid felt isolated and could not relate socially and emotionally with others surrounding them. But is it the answer for more than a million crimes? We need to look at other possible causes.
A significant number of teenagers likely feel unhappy with their current situation. They might do well at school, good at most subjects, but still, they need a real purpose for existing. In a world where people measure others by the amount of worldly treasure they have, good education and a good personality tend to be marginalized. These teenagers, who feel that they have nothing to lose, will start acting according to their beliefs. In other words, they react to the world around them. It is safe to say that the current system of the world these days frustrates and depresses many people.
Teenagers are in a vulnerable period of their life. Of course, they need sound guidance and communication. However, parents and teachers are only sometimes suitable for advice because they cannot win the teenager’s heart. Wealthy parents are usually hated because they work too much. In contrast, poor parents are usually hated because they tend to be lazy, or the father might be an alcoholic bum who is useless as a breadwinner. Teachers are not significantly different. It is so rare that a teacher can earn respect from their students. In this case, most teenagers do not need a role model.
To sum up, if we mean to solve the problem of crimes committed by teenagers, the first solution is to make ourselves worthy of communication. Parents and teachers cannot communicate with teenagers as long as they enforce their worldly views on them and do not treat them like adults.
(DRAFT 20 MINUTES)
