EDITORIAL

We must act now to curb youth crime

By Suchada Tupchai

Throughout the past week, senior judges in the family and juvenile court system met in Chonburi to discuss case studies and methods on how to deal with youth related crime. This was a nationwide meeting that saw over 200 officials in attendance.

Charnchai Lichitchitata, deputy chief of the Dika Court, the supreme judicature of Thailand, addressed the meeting with frightening figures. “The statistics are of great concern. The problems in the youth sector are on the increase, specifically in the areas of child prostitution, gambling, drugs and petty crime. All these have shown to lead to more serious offences in the future.”

He also cited that circumstances and environmental conditions strongly influenced youth crime through poverty and family problems.

“The problem is not restricted to Thailand. In many other more developed nations the daily increase of youth crime is reaching epidemic proportions,” said Charnchai, who also announced the various actions taken by these countries to curb the increase.

It is time for us, the adults, to face the issues concerning our youth and not view them as a problem. They are society’s future adults. We must be strong in our family values as a nation and measure ourselves up for the task. We must also preserve Buddhist values by encouraging the children to visit temples and learn. We must allow the youth to think, encourage them to do so, and have the courage to act accordingly. Curb the promotion of pornographic literature and carefully safeguard the use of the internet in order not to encourage young minds to stray off the path of learning and social and moral values.

But are we as a society ready to do that?