Columbus to save its Youth
The United States is no stranger to crime, unfortunately there has been an increased amount of criminal activity in the city of Columbus. The most drastic increase in criminal activity has been among teens as young as thirteen, and are usually commited during after school hours. The city of Columbus has made attempts to be proactive in reducing the crime rate in with little success. Many residents believe that increased punishment for adolescent crimes is the proper measure that needs to be taken. While, many other residents believe that parents should be held responsible for their children’s after school care. The average working adult in Columbus usually works on the average of at least forty hours a week to maintain an average lifestyle. With fifty-five percent of children living in a single parent household with a single income, it is near impossible for many of these parents to be able to not only supervise their children at all times, but afford care in most cases. This is a cry for help the city of Columbus should invest in an increase of free after school programs for children ages thirteen and older.
Recently, there has been a rise in criminal activity amongst the youth in Columbus Georgia. The percentage of juvenile criminals increased by almost 9.5% in the year 2012-2013(Chattahoochee Valley Struggles with Black on Black Crime). Many of the crimes committed involved adolescents as young as fifteen, and have become increasingly more violent. In 2012 a sixteen year old woman was shot and killed by her eighteen year old boyfriend, a few months later a nineteen year old boy was shot while walking to his home. (Chattahoochee Valley Struggles with Black on Black Crime). Due to the overwhelmin...
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...ieve life goals. The community should encourage continued community service from college students that receive scholarships and or some type of financial aid to volunteer, with the existing programs. This could increase the amount of people available to these after school and summer programs, while saving the city some money. This could prove to be a major step in continuing to improve the city and make it a desired place to live and prosper.
Works Cited
James-Johnson, Alva. "Chattahoochee Valley struggles with black-on-black crime"www.ledgerenquirer.com. 08 Feb. 2014. 25 Mar. 2014 .
The Family Center. "FAST|Columbus, GA|." The Family Center of Columbus. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"Youth Advisory Council • Columbus, GA." Columbus, Georgia Home Page. N.p.,
Anderson, E. (1998). The social ecology of youth violence. Crime and Justice, 24(Youth Violence), 65-104. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147583
Jenson, Jeffrey and Howard, Matthew. "Youth Crime, Public Policy, and Practice in the Juvenile Justice System: Recent Trends and Needed Reforms." Social Work 43 (1998): 324-32
Today not only do we have adults committing crimes, but millions of adolescents are committing the same crimes as adults. “Statistics show more than 1.1 million youths being arrested on a daily basis, and more than 800,000 youths belonging to different gangs (Siegel &Welsh, 2014).” It is the state juvenile authorities to deal with these children and the cost is massive. So states came up with programs to put a stop to kids becoming delinquents. With doing so they hope to save money and help kids.
Progar, J. (2012). Review of juveniles at risk: A plea for preventive justice. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 41(12), 1702-1704. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9841-0
This school should not require 100 hours of community service as a graduation requirement because of the busy lives of teenagers, the pressure of graduation, and loss of enthusiasm for community service. Schools should encourage community service but this is not the way to do it.
... Reestablishing community goals and encouraging youths to engage in extracurricular activities will greatly improve outlooks on life and help them make the right choices for a better tomorrow.
Crime rates across the U.S. for juveniles is at all time high. Juveniles across all demographic have been punished more severely than those of the past. Contributing factors including lower socioeconomic areas such as the Detroit Metropolitan Areas & Chicago. This paper will discuss the apparent issue within the system focusing on juveniles in urban areas.
Adolescent criminal acts, which include but are not limited to murder, rape, armed robbery, violent assault, mugging, arson, vandalism and robbery are a large portion of the crimes represented in the media. Alternative options to throwing these kids in juvenile detention centers is a rehabilitative boot camp where they have no control over even their own bodies or programs similar to scared straight where they see possible consequences to their actions. The importance of the success or failure of these programs is important because right now it is the popular solution. If these programs are going nowhere, time should be invested in creating new ideas and methods to treat these children before they become adults in the prison system.
Few social issues get as much media attention as youth crime. Statistics Canada reported a 3% increase in crimes committed by 12- to 17-yearolds between 2005 and 2006. In the last 15 years, the rate of violent crimes among young people has increased by 30% (Youth crime, 2008). From gangland-style killings in Vancouver to the senseless beating of an elderly woman in Hali-fax, Canadian cities are struggling with a wave of youth crime that was unimaginable a couple of decades ago. According to Statistics Canada, most Canadians believe that youth crime is on the rise and 77% believe that the sentencing of young offenders is too lenient (Youth crime, 2005). Many experts attribute the spike in youth crime to the increased number of street gangs - often the perpetrators of youth crime (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996). Research indicates that youth seek comfort from those who welcome them and reinforce their sense of belonging. Unfortunate-ly, some youth have no choice but to turn to street gangs in order to satisfy their need for approv-al, belonging and self-worth (Clark, 1992). Street gangs are not just issues in big cities. Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the presence of street gangs in non-metropolitan and rural communities. For example, in 1960, there were 54 cities in the United States with a gang population. In 1995, there were street gangs in approximately 800 cities and towns across the United States (Swetnam and Pope, 2001). There is no consensus among experts on how to reduce youth crime. Criminal involvement usually starts before the age of 15, with first-time of-fences declining markedly once young people reach 20 years of age. Young people who become involved in criminal activities before the age of 14...
In this day and age the media is always covering breaking stories about juveniles and violence. It seems that every other day there is a headline about shootings or stabbings. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when analyzing juvenile violence and more specifically juveniles and gun violence. Gun violence is the intentional use of a weapon against a person, group or community that can possibly result in injury, death or psychological harm. There are many factors that need to be analyzed in order to come to a decision about the proper course of action to reduce gun violence amongst juveniles. The things that need to be taken into consideration are gun laws, different uses of a firearm, how youths attain firearms, causes of gun violence and most importantly, the options to combat juvenile gun violence.
Juvenile delinquency is a conduct by a juvenile or a person below the legal age that is above parental control thus dealt with by the law. Crime in this case cannot be punishable by death or life imprisonment. There are many cases of juvenile delinquency in recent times that have raised many issues in the United State’s legal systems. There are many ways of explaining juvenile delinquency and crime when it comes to; cause, results, and legal actions pertaining to crimes. Alex Kotlowitz in his book, “There Are No Children Here” focuses on crime and juvenile delinquency through life experiences. This story is about the life of two boys who the author researched for a few years. The two boys were from Chicago, grew up in a poor family, surrounded by poverty, gangs, and violence as do many of us who come from low income, minority filled areas. The two boys unfortunately, sad to say end up in juvenile hall which clearly depicts the whole concept of crime and juvenile delinquency that arises from more issues than simply meets the eye . Issues relating to the social disorganization theory of poverty, disorganization, and low community control. This paper will analyze the story using themes that relate to juvenile delinquency and further discuss causes and ways to control juvenile delinquency
The United States has been affected by a number of crimes committed by juveniles. The juvenile crime rate has been increasing in recent years. Everyday more juveniles commit crimes for various reasons. They act as adults when they are not officially adults. There is a discussion about how juveniles should be punished if they commit heinous crimes. While many argue that juveniles who commit serious crimes, such as murder, should be treated as adults, the fact is, juveniles under the age of eighteen, are not adults, and should not be treated as such.
Taking time to volunteer at the many nonprofit organizations, homeless shelters, advocacy centers, philanthropic fundraisers, local schools and child care facilities in the inner city is not always at the forefront of young people’s minds while navigating through their college experiences. But, with a little push from student organizations, local nonprofits and passionate individuals, volunteerism and community change can start to take a front seat and become not just an opportunity, but also a priority in the lives of young people.
The problem of juvenile violence has become one of the most overwhelming problems of our time for Texas and for the United States. The problem is spread throughout the United States. The serious crimes are usually thought to be problems of the urban city, but this is no longer a problem just for the inner city. The problem has spread through the suburban areas of the city in cases just like the first example. Citizens are spending tons of money trying to fight the problem on their own. They purchase everything they can to combat crime. Women have mace, cars have alarms, houses have burglar bars and alarms, and many schools have metal detectors to try to control the overwhelming effects of violence (Defending 93). However, these efforts are not enough to overcome the effects of violence, such as man pictured below with an automatic weapon in the streets of his neighborhood (Gest p.29). All jail and court information leads to the outcome that there is a wide diversity of criminals in jail. There is no longer a predictable profile for a juvenile criminal. However, most of the criminals still come from the inner city. Due to a 21% estimated rise in the number of 15 to 19 year olds by the year 2005, the problem will get worse without a better plan. The American juvenile justice system is supposed to be the system that prevents juveniles form committing crimes, but the system was designed over 100 years ago to prevent minor crimes from occurring (LaCoya 12/2/94). The current system in Texas and throughout most of the United States allows juveniles to receive a less severe penalty than an adult who is convicted of the same crime. The current Texas system does not allow juveniles to be prosecuted as an adult until they are eighteen unless...
Loeber R., and D.P. Farrington. “Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions.” Thousand Oaks. 1998. First Search. Feb 2007