Youth and Crime - Who Is Responsible

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When today's youth commit crimes it is often the taxpayers that have to pay for it. In many cases, when the crimes include damage to property, theft of personal belongings or merchandise the public are required to pay for the damages through taxes and raised prices in stores. When it comes to theft, the public would be required to pay more money in the long run for a product that is often stolen due to the rate of loss on it. When it comes to property damage we, the owners, are responsible for replacing what has been damaged and paying to replace or repair the item from our own pockets, or to place claims using house or automobile insurance, causing our premiums to rise. Youth crime rates seem to have been increasing over the past couple of years. Most crimes these days are committed by youths who are often under the influence of drugs and alcohol, who have an impaired sense of perception. Police Chief Julian Fantino of the Toronto Police Service says, "Youth crime rates have been rising in recent years even though other violent crime rates have been decreasing," (www.cbc.ca). With youth crime on the rise we the public are forced to pay increasingly for their mistakes.

Not all youth who commit crimes are using drugs or lack a good home to come home to. It is that most youth fall in with the wrong crowd and go along with the flow resulting in peer pressured youth violence. Parents should not be financially responsible for restitution should their children commit crimes. In support of this view are the many programs being instated to try to stop youth crime. Youth crimes rates in Canada are at an all time low from 2002/2003, according to the Statistics Canada Report. The total number of youths being sent to jail over th...

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...ished playing with them (who made the mess? /who should clean the mess?). This is then further reinforced once children enter the school system - in social interaction with other children and teachers, in completing homework, even in getting to school on time. All of these day-to-day activities reinforce the concept of responsibility and accountability.

The youth of today should be held responsible for their own crimes. Of course, the resulting punishment would have to take into account the actual age of the young offender and the severity of the crime, but most definitely the offender should be held accountable. Each case must be treated individually. In some cases the parent would need to learn some hard lessons from the judge along with the young offender, but overall the importance lies in making sure those who commit youth crimes take responsibility.

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