Crime and Teens
"Not long ago, kids were considerably hopelessly delinquent when they skipped a day of school...Today, many juveniles sell drugs, rape, rob, and shoot to kill." Many shocking reports of violent crimes committed by juveniles seem to have become commonplace. In September 1994 eleven- year old Robert Sandifer Jr.was shot in the head by teenage fellow gang members in Chicago. At the time of his death, Sandifer was being sought by police for the shooting death of a fourteen- year old girl. One month later, also in Chicago, two boys dropped five-year old Eric Morse from a fourteenth floor window because he refused to steal candy for them. On the evening of January 21, 1995, in San Diego, California, fourteen- year old Tony Hicks shot and killed Tariq Khamisa, a twenty year old pizza deliveryman, while attempting to rob him of pizza and cash. Also another incident in California, a six-year old boy beat and kicked a four-week old infant nearly to death during a burglary. Another recent tragedy occurred in April of 1999 was known to be the Columbine shooting where a bunch of high school kids went on a shooting spree injuring many fellow classmates. These
unbelievable stories lends to the substance to the commonly held view that the number of violent juvenile crimes is increasing and that the perpetrators of such crimes are getting younger. In this society we find many shocking repeated reports from the media on incidents of extreme violence committed by minors- even by preteens. Adding to these horrific accounts we find that the perpetrators are often described as having no conscience, capable of killing over relatively trivial issues such as a disrespectful look or an article of clothing or even for no particular reasons whatsoever. About 2.3 million persons under the age of eighteen are arrested by law enforcement agencies in the United States each year, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. There are far more murders, rapes, and robberies, young people than in the past. The numbers of arrested in persons under the age of eighteen for violent crimes increased 62 percent between 1986 and 1999. And between the year 1985 and 1994, according to the Department of Justice, juvenile arrest increased 150 percent for murder, 103 percent for weapons law violations, 97 perc
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tariq Khamisa, World Report, Alex Thio, Department Justice, , Juvenile Hall, Delinquency Prevention, Sandifer Jrwas, TV Guide, Eric Morse, violent crimes, acts violence, television violence, juvenile crime, persons age, violence children, age eighteen, commit violent, persons age eighteen, children watch,
Approximate Word count = 783
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
