Desiree Oliveros September 17, 2019

STEM 2A Providence Oral Communication

Ms. Grazyl Mae Tenebroso
Juvenile Crime Is A Cry For Help

In the midst of writing this speech, his face flashed before my mind. A 16-year-old young
man who was about to do something unforgivable. Young ladies and young men, I am pleased
and honored having you as my audience and having me as your speaker on this platform tonight.
Now, let me take you into my own opinion, my view and idea about how help is really needed to
young people who committed various crimes.

Youthful crimes had become more evident and common in our modern society. Let us call
this "youthful crimes" as "juvenile crimes" which basically refers to crimes committed by
teenagers. Cases like burglary, drug addiction, stealing, rape and even murder. Juvenile crimes
seem to dominate many topics and discussions and are such a great problem not only for the
government but for our entire society. There is a large combat making "juvenile crime" a "hot
pot" whether juveniles are the one who are accused or juveniles are the victims. Young ladies
and young men, juvenile crime is a cry for help.

In the midst of writing this speech, the face of a 16-year-old young man who was once my
neighbor flashed before my mind. Nine years ago, my mom entrusted me to our closest neighbor
because she had to buy something. Nine years ago, our neighbor whom my mom entrusted her
child had a son who willingly wanted to look for me. That day was an unforgettable one for a
child who doesn't understand what was going on. We were left together. I was blank. Nine years
ago, I was sexually harassed and was nearly raped by a juvenile.

Juvenile crimes are highly alarming since adolescents and youngsters are involved.
Violence is aggressively growing and its target are young people. Juveniles with impulsive
behavior, uncontrollable aggression and a massive amount of stress most likely commit crimes.
Crimes that are easily done by these juvenile individuals like rape, drug addiction, stealing and
even murder. Oh yes, I know, you heard a lot of this already, but have you heard about what
triggers them to do crimes?. There are a lot of factors that might lead adolescents commit such
violent crimes. Factors that are present and is roaming around in our society today. I want you to
lend your ears and open your minds as I tell you these factors, are you ready?. First is poverty,
although this is not a sole cause, but here in the Philippines poverty is indeed present. Most of
the youngsters who suffers poverty, commit crimes such as stealing and drug dealing to provide
their basic needs. Second factor are broken homes. Children coming from broken homes, parent's
separated or divorced will lead them into violent behaviors. Also take "bad-parental modeling"
which includes alcoholism, brutality and failure to provide children their needs of physical and
emotional attention a factor that affects a child's mental, physical and emotional health which
would lead a youngster have an aggressive behavior. Third factor is drug abuse. Quite a large
number of juveniles particularly those who are involved in theft, prostitution and physical assault
are found to be addicted to drugs. Addiction would drive them into aggression and extreme
wanting of things that are mostly illegal. Lastly, social rejection, a contributing cause of youth
committing various crimes. Adolescents think that they feel useless and unneeded by the society.
They lack hope because of their irrespective class, sex social status or wealth which would lead
them to an anti-social behavior. This would pave the way to committing crimes to satisfy their
desperation for attention.

Juvenile crime is a cry for help. This alarms everyone from the government to the
citizens to give attention and time to see how bad this issue is going. Young people who
committed such crimes must not get an "adult punishment" since an adolescent brain does not
process jail time the same way as an adult brain. An adolescent will spend their sentence
repressing the memory of their crime. It might not be clear to a juvenile offender to understand
the crime they committed. Yes, they might know what's right and what's wrong but their brains
aren't fully developed and their sense of right and wrong is much more different from the adults.
Juveniles must be punished not because of who they are but because of what they did. They
could be lacking of strong adult presence in their lives causing them to act out and this is a cry
for help.
A child who is engaged in juvenile crimes is more a victim than an offender. They badly
need help and us who are also part of the youth must be in the movement of change. What would
happen if we'll let juvenile crimes grow and grow until we cannot already see a glimpse of hope
for peace? Young ladies and young men, every single day, a life is shaken and could be taken by
a juvenile who desperately needed help. It is not too late to put an end to this issue. Yes, we're
just a mere teenager, a student without any power, but if we just really willing to raise awareness
and be a voice to end violence with the help of God, this would be possible. Now young ladies
and young men, I want you to put your fist above your heart and say this with me, "I want to be
in the movement of change ending violence and stop juvenile crimes to end crying for help".
That would be all, thank you!