There is no doubt that various books and experts can give us many theories as to the causes of juvenile delinquency, including one's economic background, substance abuse, peer groups, repeated exposure to violence through the family circit, increased availability of firearms and media violence, however, I feel that the number one cause of juvenile delinquency is the breakdown of families, including lack of parental control over children. It is ironic in Canada,today, one must have a driver's license to operate a car, a permit to own a gun and even a licenseto own a pet such as a cat or a dog, but one does not have to have training or a license in order tobecome a parent. Without educational programs in child development, many of our future parentswill not have a chance at becoming successful parents and worse, yet, many parents today arealready contri- buting to the ever increasing problem of juvenile delinquency simply by notknowing how to be parents. Being a parent is a lifelong commitment and new parents must learnparenting skills immediately; they do not have the luxury of internships and often times, mistakesin parenting will have drastic effects on the child. There are many reasons for the widespread crisis in families today. Below are some ofthose causes: 1. Changes in the Social Environment - there have been many changes in our social environment over the last number of years. These changes have made a risky environment for today's youth. 2. Children and teenagers spend more time with peer groups than ever before. 3. Drugs 4. Weapons are used increasingly as ways to solve minuscule problems. 5. Illicit and explicit sexuality and violence are the main subjects of choice in the media; and the impact of media influence has widened and become more vivid with the intro- duction of computers, video games, portable stereos and Much Musics’ wide r...
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