17 Youths Charged With Murder This Year in Nashville, Tn.

[Jadedblueeyes]

Youth crime is on the rise in some areas.

I saw this on channel5 out of Nashville, Tn.

It states these type of crimes have increased 90%.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=7417123

I think they are increasing overall in most states.

Why?

[Marcia3]

Wow, what a frightening statistic!

There are probably a lot of reasons why the violent crimes committed by children/teens is up. There are financial strains everywhere you look these days, the sense of entitlement that I witness in younger people (which is a whole different subject), the fact that in some areas it may be considered a rite of passage to go to jail. I don't have any stats on the connection between crime and jail time in this area, so I don't want to go so far as to say that perhaps there is not enough incentive to stay out of trouble because the punishments are too weak. But that could be a factor.

Could it also be that gang activity not seen before in areas such as this is on the increase?

[Jadedblueeyes]

Wow, what a frightening statistic!

There are probably a lot of reasons why the violent crimes committed by children/teens is up. There are financial strains everywhere you look these days, the sense of entitlement that I witness in younger people (which is a whole different subject), the fact that in some areas it may be considered a rite of passage to go to jail. I don't have any stats on the connection between crime and jail time in this area, so I don't want to go so far as to say that perhaps there is not enough incentive to stay out of trouble because the punishments are too weak. But that could be a factor.

Could it also be that gang activity not seen before in areas such as this is on the increase?

I think it must be a part of it Marcia. Over a decade ago we never heard of gangs in our area and now they are rampant and so are the crimes that come along with it, such as murders and home invasions committed by young people.

So many of these kids have no allegiance to their families nor is there any love lost for them many times so they are taught bad things by the bad people they hang around with imo.

More and more I feel so sorry for the good kids and the good parents who try to do their best in raising their children. They are just in such a minority today it seems and you know picking the right path is hard for kids when they have no foundation or guidance and who wants to pick what is the easiest and gives them the most freedom and instant gratification.

I just think that somehow, someway, our children are becoming disconnected and their conscience is not there to guide them in making the right decisions.

imoo

[biography]

I'm sure it happens all over...but they were just singling out one city to make it seem that much worse.