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Industrial Revolution and Juvenile Delinquency
Before the industrial revolution, juvenile offenders were treated in the same fashion as adult criminals. Children who had committed offenses would be locked up with adults and would be expected to carry out punishments akin to those of their grown-up equivalents. Children who were guilty of certain offenses were even exposed to capital punishment. According to Geisser (2015), some young people who were considered rowdy or belligerent were deported to orphanages, training schools, and workhouses along with any abandoned children. The systems, which had been put in place to control delinquent juveniles, were at times harsh and exploitative. The delinquents would be compelled to labor for a long period under dreadful circumstances where they were deprived of payment. Rather than rehabilitating the children, the programs functioned to exploit them.
At the onset of the industrial revolution, public awareness concerning the fair and ethical treatment of children in workplaces emerged. Large numbers of people became apprehensive about extreme child labor where children would be constrained to work for long hours in factories without suitable compensation. Gradually, various interest groups managed to lobby for the introduction of child labor laws and other programs that were aimed at reversing the prevailing tendencies of child exploitation (Geisser, 2015). Later, the laws paved way for reforms in the way children were handled in the juvenile justice systems. Some of the key personalities who participated in pushing for separate juvenile justice systems include Jane Adams and Julia Lathrop. The National Council of Mothers likewise played a vital role in favor of minors (Geisser, 2015).
While many people were supportive of these initiatives to separate juvenile justice systems from the adult systems, others saw it as a reaction to the amplified delinquency instigated by the Industrial Revolution. Children whose parents were working in the factories were often left unattended and hence vulnerable to delinquency. Other children as young as three years were tasked with domestic labors or family businesses. Besides, other children, especially those above seven years, were sent away to become apprentices in the homes and farms of unrelated masters since their parents were busy working. According to Musick (1995), the masters maltreated a good number of such children. Some of them were even sexually desecrated. Apprenticeship involved precarious labor on massive tracts of land. Some parents sent their children to schools where they could acquire formal education.
The industrial revolution saw a population influx to urban areas, especially large cities. In these environments, children were frequently left unsupervised. However, the same industrial revolution also necessitated the demand for skilled and unskilled labor. Therefore, the solution for unruly juveniles was to send them to the factories or the farms. As industrialization continued to grow, technological advancement was also witnessed. More industries needed less skilled labor and more technical expertise that was mostly beyond the parameters of youths. The technical expertise needed by the growing industries included knowledge to operate intricate machines and technological devices. Competent and better-trained adult workers then supplanted the youthful hands. The law expanded to safeguard children from exploitative employers and negligent families. The government took control over various matters that affected children such as education and health.
Lack of Parental Guidance on Technology and Juvenile Delinquency
After the industrial revolution, there was a rapid rise in the development and use of technology. Technological advancement opened up new avenues for minors to engage in criminal activities. Minors became vulnerable to delinquency in ways that had not even been fathomed before. This risk was particularly high among children and adolescents who are left unsupervised. Such juveniles spent long hours in contact with technological devices such as video games, mobile phones, computers, and television among others. Although technology is useful and convenient for children even today, it becomes a problem when there is a lack of parental guidance and supervision on how they should interact with it. The typical parent spends long hours in the workplace earning a living. Hence, children, specifical adolescents, are left to maneuver on their own. Hence, they are often in contact with unrestricted technology and technological devices.
Through mass media such as television and communication devices such as mobile phones, adolescents are exposed to sensitive materials. The makers of television, movies, and internet content are more concerned with profits than the quality and impact of the content. Movies, video games, and internet content may have negative effects on children. These effects include exposure to violence, obscene language, or filthy acts. Once children have been exposed to this kind of content, it may damage them for life. According to Boyd (2015), young children are exposed to television programs that depict murder, fights, and rape without the attendance of a grown-up to tell them that the actual life should not be based on the movie depictions or the television programs. Therefore, teenagers grow with a distorted image of society and/or how things work in life. This situation leads to them being wayward shortly.
Parents seem to take two approaches in supervising and guiding their children where technology is concerned. The first approach is where they are extremely strict or authoritative. They deny their children access to technology such as television, mobile phones, and video games without a discussion on the reason behind their stance. The children feel unfairly treated. Hence, they become rebellious, which causes them to be delinquent. Children from these families engage in other dangerous activities such as drug abuse and unsafe sexual practices. The other kind of parents is excessively liberal with their children’s use of technology. This practice is particularly rampant among rich families where children are used to parents fulfilling their every wish (Hatch, 1999). Children who are accustomed to having their way can cultivate a sense of entitlement where they become disobedient to any attempts of supervision or control. Due to their lavish lifestyle, they are easily able to access drugs and other harmful substances. Therefore, parents need to strike a balance between the right amount of strictness and liberty to protect their children from delinquency.
With modern progress in communication technology, most people have become more reliant on technological means of communication, as opposed to old-fashioned face-to-face talk. Most parents are often away on important business trips or working. They create limited opportunities for communicating with their children. For instance, they communicate through the phone or email. The conversations lack a personal touch. Hence, parents may not understand exactly what their children are experiencing. The role of supervising and guiding children is left to other children, grandparents, or hired workers. Other times, parents have no idea of how a certain technology works. Some parents are not as conversant with technology as their children are. It becomes impossible for the parent to supervise and guide the child while he or she (parent) has no idea of the required expertise (Hatch, 1999). Parents need to make conscious efforts to familiarize themselves with the technology that their children are exposed to such that they can guide them accordingly.
Social Media and Juvenile Delinquency
Social networking and social media play a key role in modern human interactions. Social media refers to the internet medium, which allows people to generate and exchange content. Social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Skype offer communication platforms, as well as chances to connect with friends, family, and peers regularly. According to Hatch (1999), 25% of adolescents access their favorite social websites a minimum of 10 times a day. While three-quarters of the teenage population own cell phones, at least half of that number uses the gadgets for social media (Hatch, 1999). Others utilize them for messaging and texting. Because of their restricted capacity to regulate themselves, adolescents and teenagers are at a massive risk since they experiment and traverse social media. Hatch (1999) confirms the rising trend of exporting offline behavior to online forums. Cases of harassment and bullying have become rampant on social media. Cyberbullying means the deliberate use of online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to spread false or malicious information about a person. Juvenile delinquency over social media starts with the victims’ access to the platforms. Once teens and adolescents access social media platforms, they are vulnerable to peer pressure and influence from the content on such platforms (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). Juveniles can effortlessly view dubious materials that are accessible on social media. They can similarly espouse these questionable practices in their conduct. Although surfing seems harmless, it can expose juveniles to violent online content. Prolonged access to aggressive content can have devastating effects on the conduct of juveniles by encouraging them to adopt such actions into their conduct.
In addition to accessing violent content on social media, young people have adopted practices such as sexting over social media. Sexting involves teenagers exchanging nude pictures and sensual messages online. The teenagers view these exchanges as harmless. However, this perception is not the case since such exchanges are against child pornography laws. The laws are lenient to first-time-offender teens who are caught transmitting nude pictures over the internet. However, the law becomes stricter for second and third-time offenders. Such exchanges of explicit pictures may appear innocuous and childish. The images have the potential of leaking to other online users. A more serious offense occurs when teenagers expose nude pictures of other teenagers around them. This situation chiefly happens in the setting of teenage relationships. Upon the disintegration of the relationship, a teenager may release nude pictures of the other party to social websites for the whole world to see. This move is mostly taken as “revenge”. To limit this offense, several laws have been passed criminalizing the transmission of child pornography, including nude pictures of teenagers. What remains is stricter enforcement of the laws.
The widespread use of personal computers and mobile phones to access technology has presented overwhelming challenges to parents. The internet can hold voluminous amounts of content and facts, which keep on changing. Many children are more versed with the internet and computer technology than their parents. The children frequently defeat any efforts by their parents to filter or block disagreeable content. However, parents can employ several strategies to protect their children from objectionable social media content. First, they can restrict the use of personal computers and then place household computers in common access locations. This way, children will be deterred by the fear of being discovered from accessing questionable content (Siegel & Welsh, 2013). Likewise, they can use software that regulates and blocks access to websites that contain sexual or violent content. Parents can also track their children’s activities on the internet while limiting their children’s access to social media platforms.
Cyber-crimes and Juvenile Delinquency
Cyber crimes refer to illegal activities that require the use of a computer. These crimes range from hacking, swatting, piracy, and digital trespassing. Peer pressure and the anonymity availed by a computer screen are the main factors that push adolescents and juveniles to commit cyber crimes. The offenses seem harmless to children who are used to a misleading view of the world because of television and video games. Swatting comprises online pranks and threats. Sometimes teenagers in search of thrill or fun call in serious crimes on unsuspecting people to unleash a swat team on them. These teenagers use several techniques to make it appear as though the call originated from the victim’s residence (IRMA, 2011). The prank calls report serious crimes such as hostage situations and robberies to attract the attention of the authorities.
Hacking refers to the modification of software or hardware to allow illegal access to a computer. Most juveniles engage in hacking as a source of thrill or fun without giving any thought to its consequences. Hacking can lead to loss of data, loss of finances, or identity theft. This crime has gained popularity in recent years. One of the reasons that have been given to explain hacking is the easy access to computers and the internet. Presently, more than thirty-five percent of juveniles have access to a computer. Apart from being readily available, computer technology has become ridiculously affordable. The cost of acquiring a computer has seen a ninety-percent descent over the past ten years (Siegel & Welsh, 2013). The increase in hacking activities by teenagers and juveniles has caused a shift of attention to juveniles’ hacking capabilities. A group of teens recently hacked into Sony Play Station’s database and compromised private client data. Another group operating under the pseudo-name “Anonymous” attacked federal agencies and banks where it exposed sensitive documents being exposed.
Most juveniles do not consider digital piracy a crime. Digital piracy refers to unauthorized duplication, sharing, or downloading of content using computers. Downloading or duplicating content such as digital music, movies, and software is not considered theft. The juveniles who partake in these piracy activities do not believe them to be morally wrong (Sundaram & Umarhathab, 2011). Traditionally, theft was defined as illegally appropriating property without the owner’s accord with the intent to deny the said owner of the use of the property. Juveniles have a hard time understanding the fact that they equally deprive the owner of property use, for instance, when they illegally download a song or steal a DVD in the store. Peer pressure from other delinquent youths has been said to increase the likelihood of juveniles committing the offense of digital piracy. Male teenagers have favorable attitudes towards pirating music and movies.
The cyber crimes discussed above can be categorized as digital trespassing. To limit or control digital trespassing by juveniles, the government needs to enact specific legislation that targets specific crimes. Apart from financial loss and threats to sensitive information, digital trespassing can lead to serious consequences such as victimizing teenagers. Nude pictures or other embarrassing information about a specific person may find its way to the internet. If this person happens to be a teenager, the results could be shattering. Such an experience may cause irreparable trauma and depression for the affected party. Teenagers who are found guilty of digital trespass are prosecuted under the same laws, in which terrorists who hack into government systems to wreak havoc are prosecuted. This approach is even though most teenagers undertake digital trespass as a way of proving to themselves and others that they have the skills to do it.
Negative Media Influence and Delinquency (Music and Television)
Music affects people’s attitudes, conduct, tempers, and sentimentalities. Music has a more profound hold on teenagers and juveniles. A survey conducted among teenagers aged 14 to 16 years found that they spend an average of 40 hours a week listening to music (Hatch, 1999). A typical teenager will listen to 1500 rock songs before reaching the 12th grade (Hatch, 1999). Attention has not been given to the correlation between violent music lyrics and aggressive or violent behavior. Although formal studies have not been done to confirm the claim, juveniles who listen to heavy metal music may be more inclined to participate in violent or aggressive activities. Despite numerous legislations forbidding it, it is astonishing how modern music glorifies acts of violence. Musical lyrics have continually become explicit, especially on abuse of drugs, sexual depravity, and violence against women. These explicit lyrics are chiefly found in the hip-hop music category (Signorielli, 2005). The fact that music and lyrics may ultimately affect the behavior and temperaments of teenagers must not be ignored. The music industry should limit the glorification of filthy musical content that seems to encourage teens into delinquent actions.
Children begin watching television at very tender ages, sometimes as young as six months. By the time they get to two or three years of age, they have become regular viewers. A study by Signorielli (2005) showed a resolute correlation between televised violence and violent actions committed by teenagers and juveniles. The study conclusively shows that televised violence has definite negative effects on human temperament and personality. Televised violence not only encourages violent behavior but also sways moral ideals about violence (Signorielli, 2005). Children who interact with large amounts of violent content on television have a greater likelihood of exhibiting violent demeanor. The effects of televised violence cut across all ages, levels of intellect, socio-economic heights, and both genders. Viewers who watch significant amounts of televised violence have a distorted perception of the world. They perceive a nastier world while overrating the prospect of being victims of violence. Some researchers have concluded that televised violence can be addictive to children and adolescents (Signorielli, 2005). Most content creators and supposed regulators such as attendants at movie theatres are more concerned with making profits than protecting teenagers and youngsters against dangerous content. It is not a wonder to see teenagers being allowed into X-rated movies because the attendants do not care. Due to these factors, more people have continually become concerned that televised violence is becoming a national health problem. There have been campaigns to advocate measures to mitigate the effects of televised violence. Such measures can include stricter laws on the rating of content and national education programs on media.
Reference List
Boyd, D. (2015). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New York, NY: Yale University Press.
Geisser, M. L. (2015). The History of Juvenile Delinquency in the Criminal Justice System. Web.
Hatch, S. (1999). Children, Violence, And The Media. Web.
IRMA. (2011). Cyber Crime: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications. Pennsylvania, PA: IGI Global.
Musick, D. (1995). An Introduction to the Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency. Nothern Colorado: SUNY Press.
O’Keeffe, G., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 1-4.
Siegel, L., & Welsh, B. (2013). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Signorielli, N. (2005). Violence in the Media: A Reference Handbook. Newark, NJ: ABC-CLIO.
Sundaram, P., & Umarhathab, S. (2011). Cyber Crime and Digital Disorder. India: Publication Division.
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