Criminal instinct in children. It is really unfortunate to reach this stage in society where we need to discuss such topics.
Whenever we imagine a child, we can only think of it’s smile, innocence, mischievous nature and silly talks. Crime and children- nobody feels good to relate these two words together. But open the news channels these days. You will hear all horrible crimes either happening to a child or the child committing it.
India went into a state of shock when one of the accused in Nirbhaya rape case turned out to be a minor. In the recent Pradyuman Thakur case, CBI arrested a teenager for the murder of 7 year old Pradyuman in school toilet. Reason for such heinous crime ? The teenager wanted to avoid school exams and parent-teacher meeting. The accusations against him are not yet proved in the court though. Another news emerged few days back where a 4 year old girl faced sexual assualt by her classmate. There are rooms for debate that it’s impossible for a 4 year old boy to understand sexual behaviour or needs. Still the incident has occured. This is the reality.
I have written just few such cases.
Whom should we hold responsible for such criminal instinct?
Children themselves?
I think it’s not fair to blame children in the first place. A child absorbs everything like a sponge from it’s surrounding and tries to imitate them in it’s behaviour. It doesn’t have the intelligence to differentiate between right or wrong unless parents or elders intervene.
Then whom should we damn next ?
Google, social media & Youtube ?
Nobody thinks twice before pointing finger towards technology for any wrong doing. Any crime happens and we start complaining how technology has spoiled our moral values. But we forget that it’s us who have brought innovation within our four walls. No matter how much we try now, it’s not possible to keep children away from mobile phones, laptops, tablets and television. So, blaming the brilliant internet alone for criminal instinct in children is not the solution.
Who is left then in such scenario ?
Parents.
The answer seems quite obvious.
I am not a mother. Still I can understand that raising a child is a big responsibility. And the task has become a mammoth one in today’s unnecessarily complicated life. What I have observed is that parents work very hard to provide their bundle of joy the best of everything- food, clothes, education, financial support. Ironically, I have seen very few of them working equally hard to build a conscience in their child.
Conscience is an unique and acquired quality. It comes in a child only after days, months and years of patience, love and knowledge from it’s parents. Spending some quality time (however little in amount) with children, reading them Jataka tales, Mahabharata, Ramayana and making the little one understand the virtues of hard work, discipline, patience , sharing and affection through small examples – how many of us do all these things with our children? Do we give enough food in their roots to nurture their innocent minds ? Are we ourselves in our best behaviour in front of them? If not, then how can we expect them to grow up into a nice human being ?
It is possible to remove criminal instinct from the minds of children. We can achieve it only when we sow the seeds of good conscience in their empty mind since childhood. It will be the greatest gift from the parents to a child and the best way to eliminate #crimeinchildren.
This post contains too much truths and logic…
I am totally agree with your view point, i was about to write on the similar topic.
Mental growth of human beings take place during their childhood days,if they get proper lessons,specially the moral values,ethics and a good philosophy for life then with time it will get enhanced otherwise the other side is really very dark.
Yes Jyotirmoy. A small child’s mind is a dough of clay. So, it’s very important to give that mind a right shape from an early age.This job becomes difficult to be accomplished once the child has grown up. We should act before it’s too late.
In India, crimes committed by children / juveniles are on the rise. To top it all, a four year old male child was accused of sexually assaulting another four year old girl. Police had confirmed penetration of a sharp object. Physiologically, one do not get sex hormones till 12 – 13 years of age. But definitely, there is something strange going on.
It happens when kids don’t get enough attention.They aren’t taught what they should or shouldn’t do from an early age.
Probably!
I tend to agree with your statements but the situation is complex. There was a time when criminal acts, at least those beyond shoplifting a piece of candy from a grocery store, were unheard of when committed by children. Now kids all over the world are being arrested and convicted for sexual assault and murder.Where is this coming from?
My children are all adults, but when they were pre-teens, there was one night we were watching a show about two teens who had murdered their parents. My son Michael commented that there were times he became angry at us, but it he couldn’t imagine hurting us.
What was the difference between my son and those other children?
I think part of it is attachment. We see attachment disorders in children who were adopted at an older age (and by “older” I mean not a newborn). Human attachment happens very early in life and if something goes wrong with that process, it seems to impact whatever sort of moral center most humans develop.
If parents are drug and alcohol abusers or otherwise emotionally unavailable to their children, I suspect something similar occurs. Beyond that, I don’t know. I do know that these occurrences are increasing so whatever is changing among human cultures worldwide is getting worse. I’m not sure that we’re “progressing” in a manner often espoused in the news and social media.
You are right,James.Apart from inducing patience in the kids from an early age, parents should also build a relationship of mutual understanding with the kids. So that if kids face some problem, they can look up to their parents for a support rather than hiding it within themselves and getting frustrated in the long run. This support system lacks these days. Parents are so busy that they sometimes overlook this important element.