The First Time Mom’s Guide To Juvenile Delinquency

When children grow up to be teenagers, there’s ought to be some sort of changes in both mind and body. This is something you can expect as a parent, since you’ve pretty much gone through the same thing. What’s tricky is if it’s your first time as a mom, and you know your child is slowly becoming a teenager. Sometimes the idea of tables being turned, with you now being your parents and your children becoming mini “teenage you” can be an ironically scary thing.

However, just because it seems overwhelming doesn’t mean you can’t see yourself through this journey. You can use your own personal experiences to figure out a way to deal with this aspect of your child’s growth. Perhaps a good starting point for first time moms is this guide to juvenile delinquency.

Of course, the odds of your children ending up as juvenile delinquents are hard to calculate now, given that all children have different points of view and have different experiences. However, it’s important you get a good grasp of the concept as early as now so you can find better ways to tackle the subject of rules and regulations with your children as they grow into teenagers.

Teaching The Law: A Modern Take 

Joel Cohen of TalksOnLaw told Huffington Post that it may be about time for educators to begin teaching law to children, even at a young age. Educators are not just teachers and professors, but parents in the household as well. The need for youth-centered legal studies is due to a slow and obvious shift to a more modernized and digitized teaching system where students and educators alike now have the room to explore and question current teaching methods and topics to teach, such as rules and the law.

Unfortunately, while a lot of parents might be for the concept, this can get tricky especially when matters of juvenile delinquency are concerned. When children are still very young, they may not immediately understand the need to comprehend how following the law is important.

According to Scientific American, juvenile court cases reach about 1.2 million annually, which means any effort to at least be able to discipline juvenile delinquents can be of great assistance when it comes to law and order. If you have a younger child, perhaps determining whether or not they’ll be juvenile delinquents can’t be done immediately. If you have a teen that is showing signs of trouble, however, then here are a few things for you to do:

Get Tough: Boot Camp 

One popular approach that was started in the 1980s is shock incarceration through the form of boot camps. These are based on actual military boot camps that train soldiers in the army. This shock incarceration is normally managed by a drill instructor and can last for a quarter of a year up to half a year. If you think discipline is slowly becoming something you can’t manage in your own home, perhaps a boot camp can help you:

• In boot camps, swift punishments for strict rules are emphasized. Things such as push ups are used to reinforce participants to engage in lawful behavior, as disobedience and other things that break that law are often met with demanding exercise and physical work.
• Some boot camps incorporate psychotherapy, substance abuse counselling, and other forms of psychological treatments in their programs. This allows your child to be able to at least express themselves to a trained counsellor when needed.
• Unfortunately, this is no surefire way to manage your child’s delinquency. In the same Scientific American piece, it was suggested that while such programs did reduce delinquency rates, they can just as easily lead to higher ones.

This means that while discipline and harsher punishments do seem like an attractive option when it comes to reinforcing ideals and the ideas of consequences, do tread carefully should this become a serious consideration on your end. Try consulting a psychiatrist or a psychological professional as they may be able to help you with your woes with your children, especially in terms of just exactly how you could teach them about juvenile delinquency.

Invest in the Positive 

Another approach to juvenile delinquency that is being encouraged to parents is actually the reinforcement of positive behavior, instead of punishing negative activity. A popular approach includes finding ways to learn tools that last with kids or teens for a long time, especially those that can try to change them for the better.

• For instance, parents must be more keen on teaching children anger management techniques, better communication skills, and better social skills to teenagers in order to encourage them away from juvenile behavior. Intervention tactics such as cognitive behavior therapy can help try to change behavior and thinking patterns.
• Something called multisystemic therapy is also being used more predominantly, where communities, schools, and parents develop strategies and methods that can reinforce positive behavior among juvenile teens.
• You may also approach a therapist to learn something called parent child interaction therapy, where a psychologist can teach you in real time to help you discover and respond to behavior that can strengthen the bond between you and your child. You may eventually learn strategies that can encourage children to cooperate with you, including incentives and rewards.
• If you’re afraid your children are becoming juvenile delinquents, or if you’re looking to gain more information on the subject, then click here to learn more.

Conclusion 

When it comes to juvenile delinquency, teaching your children about following rules and regulations can be a tricky thing especially now that they are starting to grow up. Teenagers have a tendency to rebel and not follow rules as they want to experience making their own decisions for themselves, and this can spell trouble when done the wrong way. As a first time mom, it might seem overwhelming having to teach kids about the consequences of breaking the law at a young age. However, perhaps teaching your children and soon-to-be-teens lessons about juvenile delinquency may help them understand the implications of their actions on others.

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About The Author: Thalia Mott

Thalia Mott has had a decade’s worth of experience as a law writer, which she hopes to share through her works. She is an avid sports fan and loves watching games if she has free time.

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