I have recently been a victim of second-hand judgment. About a month ago, during one of my daily jogs in the park, I noticed a mangled memorial bench that had been smashed into pieces and offensive graffiti had been sprayed onto it. Pausing in my jog to see the extent of the damage, I suddenly noticed a senior citizen yelling at me down the path. As he got closer, I was able to get a grip on his blabbering screams and translate them into accusations of how I was the cause of this vandalism. I was too shocked for words and, as I stood there silently, the man exited with a final mumble of how “this atrocity cannot go unheard”. I assumed he was going to call the police, but I hadn’t heard any more of it. Because of this incident and many others, I would suggest that the media would be more careful about how they present criminals and teenagers and not just assume they are all one and the same.
The second point I would like to mention is how the head teacher quickly disposed of Charles' situation by accusing him of anti-social behavior after Charles had been badly beaten up. I completely agree with how Charles reacted, punching the back of chairs on an empty train carriage rather than assaulting another person. The amount of frustration you have to deal with when being accused of something that you were actually a victim of is extremely overwhelming. This head teacher was obviously taking advantage of his power because he did not deal with the situation properly. He knew if someone were to concern themselves about the authenticity of the head teacher’s accusation that people would sooner believe a responsible staff member than an antisocial youth. I am very pleased to know that this injustice has been made public and I am enthusiastically cheering for that head teacher to be, at the very least, stripped of his position at the school.
Countless times, I have been blamed for something I didn’t do and punished when I attempted to defend myself. When I was not even given a chance to correct their mistakes, it was extremely frustrating. I would suggest that people are more careful about who they employ at schools and monitor fairly how each student is getting on. If a student is having trouble at school, they should be given the opportunity to talk to someone who will listen and also try their best to do something about it.
I have given a lot of thought as to what I believe is the main cause of young people behaving anti-socially or getting involved in crime. Personally, I think the main reason(s) for this is out of boredom and/or frustration. Nobody likes having nothing to do and usually adults appear to have their days crammed with jobs and choirs, so it's not surprising that younger people look for other ways to keep themselves occupied. A teenager’s frustration might have come from being ignored and cast out by everyone else. Also, they may be being bullied and cannot turn to their teachers, friends or family which just amplifies their frustration. If they are too scared to face their bullies on their own, then they can only assault inanimate objects to make themselves feel better. We can stop this from happening by making sure there are facilities available for young people to confidentially talk about their concerns and problems at school or home. To lessen the boredom, I would suggest plenty of after-school activities e.g. Sports teams, clubs etc. If possible, the teachers should individually talk to the students and try to convince them to join a club or sports team. They might have unknown talents in a specific area but are too shy to try.
I am ecstatic that there are people out there who are deeply concerned about young people and are actually doing something about it. Reading this article has only strengthened my belief that teenagers do not want only chaos and disorder in the world. I am looking forward to reading many more articles, like “Breaking Point”, to see how teenage crime is being properly dealt with.
Yours faithfully,
