[In-Depth Look] Juvenile Crime, Not Someone Else's Issue but Our Own

"I hate juvenile offenders."

This is a line from the protagonist of a drama centered on the activities of a juvenile court judge. With the worsening juvenile crime, public opinion is rising for tougher punishments such as lowering the age of criminal responsibility and abolishing the Juvenile Act. It is true that judicial justice is realized by punishing criminals in accordance with their crimes. However, arguing that juvenile offenders should be punished as adults because juvenile crimes occur due to weak punishments is an irresponsible act that shifts the responsibility for juveniles to the state without understanding why they fall into crime.

When examining the causes of juvenile crime, the greatest fault lies with our society. Family breakdown and increase in single-parent families, the prevalence of unhealthy and decadent trends, entrance exam-oriented education, and the rise of out-of-school youths amid the collapse of school authority. Neither family, school, nor community shows interest or affection for the growth of juveniles, but rather neglects them as if it were someone else's problem. Juvenile offenders are nothing more than byproducts created by our society.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the official proclamation of Children's Day. Over the past 100 years, the Republic of Korea has achieved remarkable economic growth and joined the ranks of advanced countries. But are our children now respected and living happy lives? According to the 12th International Comparative Study on the Happiness Index of Children and Adolescents, Korean children's happiness index ranked the lowest among 22 OECD countries, and the youth suicide rate was 1.4 times higher than the OECD average. Since 1997, over 100,000 divorces have occurred annually, with more than 60% involving unmarried children. Do you think it is the fault of our children that they are unhappy and forced to live in incomplete families? Similarly, it cannot be said that juvenile offenders are entirely to blame for committing crimes.

There is an African proverb that says, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." This means that for a child to grow up properly, not only the family but also the community to which the juvenile belongs must show interest and affection. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility and imposing severe punishments may have some deterrent effect on juvenile crime, but it is not a fundamental solution. Juveniles are immature beings who cannot properly control their emotions and tend to commit crimes impulsively. In most cases, they fall into the wrong path due to unavoidable circumstances tangled like a skein within their families, schools, and communities.

Preventing and addressing juvenile crime requires the interest and cooperation of family, school, and community. Since juvenile crime is a byproduct of a flawed society, the solution should not rely solely on national policies but seek social solutions. To this end, incomplete families must be restored, bridges must be built for out-of-school youths to return to school based on education and guidance, environments prone to the temptation of crime must be blocked, and specialized institutions must be expanded to heal the hearts of wounded juveniles. Considering all this responsibility as someone else's problem and leaving it only to the state is not the attitude that we adults living in this era, who have the duty to care for and educate juveniles, should take. To eradicate juvenile crime, our society, to which juveniles belong, must move together.

Kim Do-woo, Professor, Department of Police Science, College of Public Talent, Gyeongnam National University