In the history of humanity, people have continued to give birth to children. Some children become a blessing to the parents and others to the society. There are those children on the other hand who become a curse to relatives and the society in general. One of the lens in which these children are assessed depends on how well or bad they relate with the society around them. At other times, the manner in which people relate with one is considered. Before one enters the adult hood, he/she undergoes through the childhood and adolescent stages. Here it is important to note that the two mentioned stages mostly take place while one is still schooling. During these two stages, a good number of children engage in activities which may be considered as crime. This then leads us to introduce the term ‘delinquency’. When young people [minors] engage in acts of crime, this practice is what is referred to as delinquency. Schools in addition to teaching, have also become a breeding ground for delinquency.
When young people below the age of 18 years engage in illegal behaviors, it becomes technical considering that the offender is still a child. Young people below the age of 18 years, spend much of their time with teachers and school mates more than their relatives. This scenario is true for the day scholars and for those who board in schools. For those who board in schools, the scenario is even worse. In the event that the school mates and the school staff cannot offer proper guidance, there is a great danger. Discussing schools and schooling is good. Further, discussing delinquency is still noble. But discussing school and delinquency together is the most welcome idea since this will bring out the relationship in a better way.
In the United States alone 60%-80% are claimed to have committed a crime at one time or another. Majority of these crimes are committed in school. In the event that these crimes are not committed in schools, they are then motivated by school peer groups. It is good to note that whether a child is a primary kid or a high school student, the level of crime differ. This is not to mean that any child is not capable of sinning. Each and every person according to psychologists is potentially dangerous. What makes a dangerous tendency to fail to manifest itself is how one interacts with the society. The instructions that one receives in school are of great importance. Nevertheless, the level and the type of crime differ. Children below the age of 7 years have some common crimes. Children between 7 and 13 years have some similarities in the crimes that they commit. Teenagers on their part have their category of common crimes.
In schools, children engage in crimes ranging from petty to violent crimes. Smoking as a minor is regarded as an offence. It is through smoking that children get involved in abusing hard drugs. The behavior may start as fun until it becomes addictive. Drugs and dug abuse is one of the major motivator to criminal behavior in schools.
When we talk about crime in schools, there are two forms. There are children who begin it in childhood and continue with crime to adulthood. On the other hand there are those children criminals who start crime while in adolescent stage and end it while still in adolescence.
There are various factors that provoke minors to engage in crime while I school. Some factors are personal while others are societal. When we talk about personal factors, the biological reasons are put into consideration. These biological factors range from the circumstances of birth to the hormone factor. There are those children who are born prematurely. A premature child has not undergone full proper development. The likelihood of such a child to develop deviant behavior during development may occur.
Regarding the societal factor, schools play a major role in breeding delinquency. Rejection, school performance, school rules and regulations, peer pressures are among the factors that contribute to crimes by the minors.
While children are rejected in school by the school mates and the teachers, the child develops a sense of loss. He/she feels that it is very unfair to be rejected in a place where he/she was to be loved. There are various reasons why a child may be rejected, though unfairly. Children with natural physical deformity may face rejection. In the event that the physically unfit and unattractive children perform poorly in school, the case worsens. If the deformity does not hinder the child to compensate the rejection with violence, he/she goes ahead.
Poor school performers are most likely to engage in crime while still as minors. Most of the poor performers are not regarded kindly by the teachers. These poor performers are seen as obstacles to the general progress of the school. Praises and rewards are directed towards the good performing pupils. The poor performers receive much of the blame even when they are innocent. There are times when poor performers get punished for crimes alien to them. When these unfortunate things continue to thrive in schools, the victims may reiterate brutally. They my either regroup or revenge as individuals . If these poor performing minors are males, the situation becomes even very critical. Males are known to be more assertive, competitive, and aggressive and with ego compared to females. In order to prove a point, they result to violence. Violence appears to be the only sure way to show the facts the hard way.
In school some learners are neither rejected nor performing poorly. They may have suffered some form of abuse or they experience some complex environments. In search for acceptance, a minor may result to aggression. It is said that birds of a feather flock together. In delinquency cases, children are able to form common peer groups. These peer groups serve the purposes of offering psycho-social and moral support to the minors. The peer groups in schools pressure themselves to be felt. The major objective is not to regain love, trust and acceptance but to fight back. These peer groups have been known to mobilize other students into destructive mass protest in schools. When school administrators fail to spot these behaviors, they jeopardize the lives of the learners.
Delinquency in school if not arrested may lead to people who are more inhuman and lack empathy. To remedy this anomaly, parents, teacher and the general society have a role to play. Most young people can be shaped into anything as they grow up. Children spend their lives mostly on the receiving end. As recipients, they need to be fed with love, acceptance, and moral guidance among other things. The fact that most young people spend their lives in school should be an eye opener to decision makers. The teachers should be motivated so that they can pass the good virtues to the young ones. Schools should also revise their approach to discipline matters.
Schools should produce respectable members of the society. Schools should be a breeding ground for honesty, industry, creativity and other good things. It is very unfortunate that schools produce societal rejects. With the right inputs delinquency in schools can be minimized if not to end it completely.
References
Drukker, M., Kaplan, C., Feron, F., J, V. O., & Korebrits, A. (2010, April-June). Delinquency in context; neighbourhood and gender interactions among adolescents. Epidemiologia e psichiatria sociale , 148-158.
Howell, J. C., Lynch, J. P., & Prevention., U. S. (2000). Youth gangs in schools. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Reinecke, J. (2006). The development of deviant and delinquent behavior of adolescents: applications of latent class growth curves and growth mixture models. Metodološki zvezk , 3 (1), 121-145.
Strang, R. M., Henry, N. B., Schools., N. S., & al, e. (1948). Juvenile delinquency and the schools. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education , 2-4.
