Minors committing crime: Who should take the blame?

The neglect of family values, society’s low premium on morals and exposure to the Internet have been cited among factors leading minors to commit crime.

Reverend Frank Kioko, a Pastor at the African Inland Church, says the number of children caught up in crime is a reflection of the rot in families.

Pastor Kioko says the minors are way ahead of their parents in terms of accessing information and are simply experimenting what they learn, see, hear and are taught away from the eyes of their parents.

“As a society, we need to be aware that they are not naive. They know what is going on in the world,” he argues, adding that parents should admit there is a gap that needs to be filled.

“We need to admit and know that these issues are happening. If we switch off televisions in our houses to limit the immoral parameters, we must be aware that they have their mobile phones and even tablets and computers linked connected to the Internet, where they see and learn a lot of things. They beat us in those areas as we are mostly local and they are trending globally,” Kioko adds.

The pastor states that the law has not done enough to protect children. “You have your child in the bar, playing, as you take one or two beers and think they are not learning. I think the law is not strict enough on both parents and those selling children alcohol,” he says, adding that the there should be heftier fines for parents and bar owners. He adds that repeat offenders should be placed in correction centres.

“Religious leaders should work extra hard to reach out to the youth and children and involve them in religious activities to keep them away from immoral acts,” he adds.

Abdullatif Abdulkarim, a Sheikh at the Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, says the media, parents and the community have the responsibility of nurturing hildren’s morality.

He says children are going wild for lack of love from parents, community discipline and religious institutions abandoning their calling for personal and commercial interests.

He says children are left at home with house girls, some of whom are frustrated and uneducated. At the same time, adults in the community have tied their hands behind their backs to watch children misbehaving.

Laws not implemented

“The child in the olden days belonged to the community, but now we are divided. The cohesion that was many there years ago is no longer there today. If an elder saw a child, they would correct them but this is no longer the case,” Sheikh Abdulkarim says.

He adds that people have lost faith in religious institutions thus are not taking their children for teaching as was the tradition years back.

“Level one is home, the next is school and then religious entities. The needs of a child are not just food, school fees, toys and money. They need love, guidance and quality time,” he adds.

Rose Mbanya, a lawyer specialising in children matters, says there are laws in place but they are not being implemented.

“We cannot say that the law is ineffective. There are laws in place but there is someone sleeping on the job. There are incidents where adults are around but no one cares. If we are not taking responsibility, then there is a problem,” Ms Mbanya says

The lawyer suggests that the law should be tightened, especially on those who are grown enough to realise they are breaking it.

Ms Mbanya is also of the view that juvenile correction centres should be changed from punishment facilities to those that correct and rehabilitate a child. “These are children who need care and protection rather than being taken as criminals.”

“Instead of cutting off their lives and education, the centre should be a place to rehabilitate and correct them. You should have them going for counseling and mentorship in order to correct them,” the lawyer says

She says the country should also look at the criminal justice system in relation to children. “We need to separate issues so that we can understand the status of crime. Those who are caught loitering because they have no place to live, or those who are caught stealing because they slept for days without food, are not the same as those joining gangs,” Mbanya says.

Rodah Munyi, a mother of five, says parents are to blame. She says they have negated their responsibility and are using money to cover up their mistakes. “It is parents who have failed. We are giving them too much in order to create peace as we are never there, we never interact with them and as such we are total strangers to each other,” she says.