Crime is an activity that involves breaking the law or an illegal act or activity that can be punished by law. It is an act that you think is immoral or is a big mistake. Other names for crime include: sin, misdeed, felony, fault, misdemeanor, transgression. It could also be seen as corruption. More names for it are: wrongdoing, misconduct, law-breaking, delinquency. Examples of criminal acts include murder, armed robbery, cultism, and drug trafficking.
How does crime start? Everything a man does starts from his mind; the mind is the engine room of every activity that a man (human) does. This could be positively active or negatively effective: if the mind is not engaged in positive activity, then it most definitely must be engaged in negative activity. Crime can or will step into a man’s mind when he or she is not active for good.
Record has it that crime is bad and defaulters must be punished, yet many youths engage in it. Most times I don’t blame them. Why, you may ask. It is because our parents didn’t tell us on time. In other words, most things that youth do today they learnt from friends. A child who is still tender-aged is highly likely to learn anything at any given time, so parents should be careful of how they react to what their child does. When parents fail to teach their children what to do, they can be misled by bad friends and leaders.
Teach them the right things and advise them on the kind of friends to keep. If not, crime will certainly creep into their minds and it will be hard for you to convince them to stop. We need to catch them young to avoid bad character as its hard to quit once imbibed.
Crime can start also from an unhealthy upbringing; it could be from growing up in a poor background, where family members have no love for each other. It is very obvious that anybody can commit crime so it is never a new thing in our environment, wherever in the world we live.
The young, the old and even leaders are the plotters of crimes. The funny thing is that whenever you mention crime everybody’s mind will rush to youth. It is not only the youth that are guilty. Rather, it started with the leaders then the youth learned from them. Now it is no longer a new thing; even a 12 year old boy or girl can commit a crime and still go free because it seems okay to people.
What can we do?
- Seek good advice.
- Create a loving home (atmosphere).
- Exercise your authority.
- Define your authority.
- Enforce rules promptly.
- Establish and maintain routines
- Acknowledge their (youths’) feelings.
- Teach by example.
What we (parents, teachers, elders in the community, leaders in the states, pastors, youth development ministers) all have to do is to catch them while they are young. Whatever we do, we should create time for the little ones (teenagers, youths) who are still growing, and for those who are already mature.
Creating a loving home (good environment) for them requires that we be their friends, if possible their best friends. We should teach them whatever it is necessary for them to know. As the Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
Let youth know right from wrong. One may ask, “What about when they are in school?” Teachers should continue from where the parents have left off. Awareness of right and wrong is for the best, because when such things are known to them, they do better than if they weren’t told anything at all. It is wrong to deny them this knowledge, thinking that when they grow up things will be better.
When a certain law is passed the leaders should make sure it is being carried out and should define their authority: “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes‘, and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.” One of the most insignificant problem youths have is the example set by their leaders. When somebody wants to emerge as a leader he will promise heaven and earth. When he finally ascends to the throne, he passes his own law and, a few days after that, he deviates from what he said he would do. This affects most youth. Some learn to make wrong decisions while others will lose interest in leadership. Most youth and adults get frustrated. It would be better to “let all things take place decently and by arrangement”.
Another thing is that every youth wants the leader to know how he feels. It is the duty of the leader or parents to examine how they feel and know what to do about it because youth are prone to expressing their thoughts and emotions in extreme terms. Knowing what they want and devising a means on to solve their problems will make them love and run to you all the time.
In order to help reduce the rate of crime in our society we should, after teaching them, practice what we preach. It’s not a matter of teaching just once. It should be a continuous thing, for the more we talk about it, the more it registers in their minds- the central processing units of their bodies.
In order to help them more, once in a while, organize an interactive session (programme) where they will have a chance to talk meaningfully with their fellow youth and with leaders in the society (possibly the Youth Development Officer (YDO), or Youth Ministers in the state or the local government area).
Since it is said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, leaders or parents should lay emphasis on the need for the youth to be creative (positively busy). The youth don’t have to rely on the government to provide everything for them, if they look very well inside they will see the hidden treasure that God has deposited. All they need is to discover who they are and to walk towards that line. Youth should not simply say, “I have my certificate.” Most times, certificates alone don’t work. Most youth cannot get jobs after graduating from higher institutions of learning, but if they can discover any talents within and work towards perfecting them, it will certainly help when every other road seems too rough and nuts seem hard to crack.
Be careful of what you say as a leader, parent etc. Never tell youth that they are nothing and will never make it; it’s bad, it kills and can reduce them to being corrupted by the bad folks out there. Encourage them all the time by being positively active in whatever you are doing as a leader, teacher, pastor, or parents. Help them discover their dreams.
There are three things that can make youth or mar them. One is the type of book they read, the other is type of person they meet (parents, friends, teachers, leaders, etc) and the third is the type of place to which they go. As they relate to you, help them discover their destiny in the right way and teach by example. Compel them to read good books and make available good ones to them. Also, advise them on the kind of place to which they should go; this should include places that will affect their life positively and also help them change their environment for the positive.
Now this goes to the community leaders (presidents, governors, local government chairpersons and ministers for youth affairs): ensure that there is adequate support for the youth. Understand that they are still youth and not elders. If you don’t treat them well they may go astray and unfortunately it is usually hard to bring them back to the right way. Create room for them and make them feel appreciated and not rejected. That will give them a sense of belonging. Create job opportunities and skill acquisition for them.
After such training, community leaders should empower the youth to make ends meat. S doing will reduce the rate of crime and corruption among the youth. I am saying this because most of us learnt most of the things we know from the wrong source. Why? Because the elderly ones and the leaders around us failed to let us know what we needed to know at the right time. If not for God’s special grace I, for instance, should have been a dead guy by now.
Who is in the right position to stop crime? It is you and I who have seen the truth and know what is needed. We have to spread the truth and tell every one that crime and corruption are as deadly as a virus. All that know that truth is good and that desire good things should help to spread the news that crime and corruption are bad.
A youth who finds himself in an environment where crime is the order of the day should try as much as he or she can to act against this and create an atmosphere of peace. Start by talking to other youths on the need for a sound mind and to create a positive impact; organize a forum in your community that will help make other youths understand that there is a need for firm foundations when it comes to positive action.
Leaders, as I said earlier, have to lead by example. Whatever they showcase to the people they are leading (especially youth) is exactly what they will follow. To all my friends and fellow youth, this note I shout: “Let us be law-abiding citizens of our country and state/community. Let’s do what is right, snob the wrong things. Lets shun cultism and illegal acts. Let’s banish bad attitudes and focus on the right ones. Let’s help make our environment and the world at-large a better place to live in. This will help us and the generations to come. Say no to corruption because those who are anti-crime are watching you. Wake up! It is not a night mare! It should be the world of our dreams. This world is what we make it; let’s do the right thing.”
One flower can wake the dream
One tree can start a forest
One bird can herald spring
One smile begins a friendship
One word can frame the goal
One vote can change a nation
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness
One laugh will conquer gloom
One step must start each journey
One hope will raise our spirits
One voice can speak with wisdom
One heart can know what’s true
One life can make the difference
(Author unknown)
You see, it is up to you! Go ahead and make your city a better place for you and for me. Understand that your country needs you and your state needs you. Your parents, and well-wishers and leaders in your community need you to stay out of crime and remain outstanding for good, for yourself and for the world at large.”
“Having done all to stand, let’s stand up right! To remain outstanding.”
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