Who is to be held accountable?
In Australia and Finland (and I assume many other countries) private gun storage laws are quite strict and require the gun to be stored unloaded, behind lock and key, and ammunition separate from the gun. These tend to be the minimum, with some requiring firing pins to be removed and dedicated gun cabinets. However, in the US for instance, in most states gun storage is left up to the owner, with only about half the states penalising the gun owner if a minor gains access to an unsecured weapon. Is it any wonder there are so many school shootings? But what is an incredible statistic is that around 3 million children in the US witness a shooting each year.
But this isn't just about shootings in the US. I was reading a story from Australia where a man was stabbed to death by a 13 year old who was out on bail. I have questions. Firstly, when did it become normal that children were committing crimes to the extent that they are getting out on bail. And secondly, there is a massive loophole in the system when children who can't be held accountable due to their age commit a crime, because apparently, no one is then accountable. That shouldn't fall through the cracks.
What about the parents?
If my ten year daughter were to get caught stealing something from a shop in Finland, as she is not criminally liable due her being under 15, the police would document the incident, even though she wouldn't get a record. However, she would still be responsible for damages, which the parents would have to pay. There is some accountability.
If she killed someone however, the parents are not liable. She is Not exempt from civil liability though, which means if compensation needs be paid to the victims or family, that would be arranged through the state, but the parents don't have to cover it. Again, I think this is somewhat of a loophole, though it would be incredibly rare in Finland.
For now.
But in many places children are participating in more and more crime that is getting increasingly violent. But it isn't just the violent crime, as there is a lot of burglary and theft also. And since there is very little done about it under current laws, the same perpetrators will continue doing it again and again. There are some children with over 200 criminal incidents in their file. But I don't think the law is the answer for this in the sense of locking them up, because prison systems tend to create more criminals and when in the system from a young age, it is going to leave an indelible mark on the child.
Based on a conversation yesterday under an article on me as a parent, a couple comments mentioned etiquette, politeness and various other factors that have declined in current society. We no longer have communities that look out for each other, which is at least partially due to us not having communities that no each other. These days, everyone is a stranger and that reduces our sense of duty of care. The behaviour of children today is due to multiple causes that have led them to be both self-centred, nihilistic, and isolated. This leaves them far more open to persuasion under group dynamics, especially when the groups aren't healthy relationships to begin with.
I cant change the world.
But I do believe each of us should be trying to improve our world, even if it is in small ways at the local level. One of these avenues is of course through parenting, where the parent teaches and encourages children to be ethical, and understand the cost of their behaviours. Yet a lot of parents are teaching their children lessons that reinforce the sense of entitlement that they get from other sources too, like social media. Entitlement of action with the expectation of no consequence, is of course going to lead to more destructive behaviour, because there is no cost in doing so. There is no accountability of action, so the action is "free" even when it is harmful to others. Combined with the lack of caring to the point that they film and post their actions, it is clear evidence that they believe that they are entitled to certain behaviour and don't care for whatever the consequences are.
To change the behaviour, the consequences need to change.
Talking doesn't change behaviour. Parents can't just say "Don't do that" or "Do this" and suddenly the child (or adult) will magically change, because we act on incentive. If there is no incentive to change, or the incentive stay the same is greater or easier, that is what we will do. To change our behaviour we have to widen the gap between the benefits and the drawbacks, where the pain of a negative behaviour is far too high in comparison to the gain from positive behaviour. The problem with punishment is that too often there is incentive to lie about crimes from the victims, which for instance has led to innocent men being accused and punished for rape.
But what about for crimes that have little ambiguity in them. For instance, if someone owns a pit bull that escapes from their yard and mauls a person severely or to death, perhaps the punishment should be similar to as if the owner of the dog committed the crime themselves. If my dachshund escapes our yard and viciously attacks a neighbour, the worst that can happen is a small bite mark perhaps, but more likely some chuckles from the neighbours. I can apologise for my dog's behaviour. A pit bull is a very different kind of dog, and at that point, no apology will suffice, because of the level of damage done.
And then back to children. If my daughter steals from a shop, I can issue an apology as there is little harm done, but if she were to intentionally kill someone (and I think stabbing someone repeatedly is intention to kill, not manslaughter), I cannot apologise for that. Should I be held accountable for the way I raised her? Is social media to blame? Is it her peer group? Is it the lack of opportunities in her future that have left her nihilistic, disenfranchised, and depressed?
Who and what is to blame for a child's crime?
It isn't so easy, as there are so many factors that go into the conditions that lead up to these kinds of events. Children are not fully developed mentally, which is why they can't be held criminally responsible. But, if they are still allowed to behave like adults and do so, that creates a gap in the system. And more and more, we are encouraging them to act like adults in the way they behave, because we surround them with an environment that reinforces adult themes through what they watch, how they communicate, how they dress and what activities they do. Should ten year olds be twerking?
Like most things as I see it in society today, underage crime is a symptom of a broken society that is breaking more and more each day. We aren't getting more "civilised" as a community, we are becoming more individualistic, hedonistic, self-serving. These run counter to social improvement and align with societal decline. It is not that society was great before, but that was mostly on the content of society in the way we behaved and how we treated people. The framework, the substrate of society can hold far better content and activity than it did. But once we destroy the structure of society, there is no longer a common mechanism for building a strong community. And once the community falls apart, small group and individual behaviours will worsen.
A gun owner should always be able to account for where their gun is, even when out of sight, because they have ensured it is safely stored. Should a parent be able to account for their children in the same way, and even when out of sight, because they have instilled in their child a sense of responsibility and accountability, and they are in a group with other children who have the same understanding?
My child isn't capable of that...
Children are much more capable than we give them credit.
Taraz
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