Parents or society: who's to blame when kids commit a crime?Camila Batmanghelidjh in yesterday's Independent wrote that: "When a child commits a crime, the truth is we're all responsible", adding that "Prisons, Asbos and some 460,000 prescriptions of Ritalin a year" simply highlight society's failure to redress injustice. Note that the word "parent/s" isn't mentioned once throughout the article. Which may well be an oversight, but can also suggest that parenting isn't what the writer regards as no.1 factor in a child's upbringing.
No sorry, Camilla. When underage/teenage crime is mentioned, no-one can omit the weight that parenting carries. At risk of coming across as insensitive and offensive, it's got nothing to do with me if certain lowlives decide to have a baby, not giving a toss about teaching them right from wrong and basic principles about respecting others and living in a society. No question the child is the real victim, but there's only as much society or the government can do when feral specimens decide to pop one out and play the parent for the first 5 minutes until they realise it's not a game. 'Course there no easy solution, or perhaps none at all, but it's a fact that whereas an ultra-liberal sex education worked in other countries (i.e. Holland) it failed spectacularly in the UK.
Granted it's a generalisation, but those scumbags pushing a pram with earphones on - in what sense is that society's fault? And chances are if a person spotted a child setting a bin alight, mangling a cat, or smoking at a station and somehow decided to do their bit as members of society by telling the "victim" off...chances are they'd get battered within ten minutes as the child returns home to tell parents about someone who "weren't minding their own fookin bizniss". In conclusion, like a great song once said: barbarism begins at home.
Granted it's a generalisation, but those scumbags pushing a pram with earphones on - in what sense is that society's fault? And chances are if a person spotted a child setting a bin alight, mangling a cat, or smoking at a station and somehow decided to do their bit as members of society by telling the "victim" off...chances are they'd get battered within ten minutes as the child returns home to tell parents about someone who "weren't minding their own fookin bizniss". In conclusion, like a great song once said: barbarism begins at home.
2 comments:
There's something uncomfortably fascistic about the tone of some of the stuff on this blog. I thought I'd point that out.
Do elaborate, dear Sam.
You're very good a posting meaningless soundbites but not so good at posting meaningful comments.
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