With the concerns of juvenile delinquency growing, it is apparent that there need to be methods developed to decrease the level of criminal behavior among youths. Although some sociologists believe that it is the Juvenile Justice System that needs mending, I believe that it is the parenting behind the juvenile that needs restoration. The majority of a youth's time is spent in the household and with the parents; especially with children under ten. These early years are crucial to a child's development and I believe that the parents can be educated to subliminally teach their children to steer clear of delinquency.
A major step in my delinquency prevention strategy would begin in the home. I believe that mandatory parenting classes should be given for all new parents. This mandatory class will help guide new parents in specific areas of childbearing. The program could start as soon as the baby is born and continue through adolescence. Although it would be difficult to implement, for most parents do not want to be told how to parent, it would be beneficiary because the age that people are having children has dropped significantly over that past few decades. Young parents, especially teenage parents, can use guidance in how to nurture and discipline their children. Social learning theory states that delinquent behaviors are learned, and learned early. So, if the parents can somehow learn to reduce the amount of access to delinquent behaviors early, then the risk of their child falling into that pattern are also reduced. This also could be the intervention stage, where it is younger parents would benefit from this type of program.
Although it has been tested and proven that programs such as D.A.R.E. do not work , I believe that a program that is constructed along those lines would benefit children if they were executed properly. One of the main reasons that D.A.R.E. does not work is because the students do not respect the police officer that is teaching them the material.
