Need to educate each other on upkeep of children

THERE is nothing as disturbing as watching children falling into conflict with the law.

Children are the most precious gifts which bring joy, unity and stability within family set-ups.

The same children can be an eyesore (for want of a better word) to society, not forgetting that most if not all find themselves in situations that could have been avoided had circumstances and mother nature not operated in adversity.

Crime could probably have been a closed chapter by now if only parents and guardians were keen on correcting wayward behaviour and avoid circumstances that expose children to criminal activities.

Accordingly, the presumption here is that it can be very difficult to apportion blame to our children for being on any side of the law because more often it is the parenting and guardianship that would have gone wrong.

Of course, influences of peer groups and unfortunate circumstances like loss of parents and relatives leading to child-headed families come into the fray.

There is need to educate each other on the importance of keeping a close eye on our children so that we are able to keep them away from effects of crime both as perpetrators, victims and witnesses of crime.

To begin with, let us relive some of the police experiences with conduct that expose children to criminal conduct.

The police in this province have been inundated with reports of children running away from homes, some from alleged cases of abuse, with others being lured away from the comfort of the home by wayward friends in pursuit of presumed joy, only to return back heads cast low and tails between legs in typical prodigal son fashion. Then there are the cases of wild parties and overnight youth church services which by all intent and purpose should be beneficial to the young persons, but which eventually turn out to be predators of the children’s future.

We have noted how parents rarely allow children to go to musical live gigs unless these are afternoon family shows where the parent or other responsible adults could be in attendance and exercising an eagle’s eye supervision over what will be happening around the child.

Some examples of what is happening can help shed light on this matter. A little way back, a Mutare-based student stole money hidden by her mother under the bed and went on a spending spree with friends, only to be arrested after she had spent almost the whole amount.

Recently, in Rusape, a 12-year-old girl was up for aggravated indecent assault after abusing two boys.

Somewhere again within our courts in Manicaland, a 16-year-old teenager received a wholly suspended sentence for being intimate with a juvenile.

This leaves us in the middle of a mess considering the efforts being made by our criminal justice system to prevent children from mixing with habitual criminals which further turns them into hardcore criminals.

Let us acknowledge that criminal behaviour by our children is the end result of nurtured ill-conduct which grows and eventually sets in as the rot that we never wanted, but which turns out to live among us forever.

It is imperative to note that police have limited powers in dealing with non-criminal behaviour commonly known as status offences involving juveniles skipping school, running away from home, and other misdemeanors.

As aforementioned, juveniles can run away from homes in pursuit of their own freedom and peer influences, while it is also possible that they can go missing after falling into wrong hands and some other unfortunate circumstances.

What, then, can be parents and guardians’ role in influencing positive attitudes that ensure children do not become delinquent and eventually hardened criminals. Parent-child relationship is the greatest way out to defeat social-ills brought by peer pressure and other street children.

A well-calculated relationship will help the parent to establish the nature of friends whom the child plays with.

Parents or guardians have a responsibility to monitor, investigate and detect any socially deviant behaviour adopted by the child from other peers before it is adapted into their way of doing things.

Unwanted behaviour should be extinguished at an early stage of development. In situations where parents are so busy with their lives and fail to address their children’s queries and problems, the children become astray and may find solace in bad company leading to delinquency.

Specialists in child rehabilitation affirm that there are factors that go beyond parental reproach contributing to juvenile delinquency. Genetic and developmental abnormalities are some of the cited biological factors, which are rife, but these can be corrected by rehabilitation, positive motivation and encouragement to our juveniles. This suggests that we cannot allow our children to grow as they wish, just as we cannot allow their biological mechanism to determine their fate.

Additionally, the public needs to know that the release of offending juveniles into the custody of their parents and guardians as opposed to closing them up in police holding cells is meant to protect them from criminal influence by hardened criminals.

The same goes for the recent introduction of pre-trial diversion which is meant to find settlement of petty cases perpetrated by juveniles that correct them and appease parties involved without having to go through the formal criminal justice system.

It is in this light that we should all understand why in some instances juvenile offenders are handed wholly suspended or postponed sentences.

Unwanted behaviour should be extinguished at an early stage of development. In situations where parents are so busy with their lives and fail to address their children’s queries and problems, the children become astray . . .

Offended parties should also learn that when juvenile offenders are released at any stage under the above cited circumstances no money would have changed hands. There is need to understand the thrust behind such processes and actions which are all meant to correct our children.

The police junior call is one initiative meant to inculcate a culture of law abiding among juveniles.

Let us all work together and transform our children into law abiding and responsible citizens.