Lack of parental guidance cause of surge in juvenile crime

Majority of inmates at the juvenile detention centers engage in crime due to lack of parental control, that’s the revelation from officials of the prisons service.

According to them, many of the juveniles who are sent to the Borstal Homes engage in crime due to influence from media, friends and the lack of restrictions.

Reforming these inmates is also a major challenge for the prisons service making it difficult to prevent them from committing crimes after their release.

The Public Relations Officer for the service, Vitalis Aryee told Morning Starr host, Nii Arday Clegg Wednesday that the Ghanaian society must sit up to prevent a surge in crime among young people.

“We all expect children to be law abiding, they shouldn’t do some of the things they do but where is this coming from, is it from home, is it from peers…it will interest you to know that a lot of people from good homes who had all things they needed to have but some of those things led them to crime,” Mr. Aryee said.

Mr. Aryee admonished to be mindful of the things they expose to during their development stages since it also goes a long way to shape their way of thinking.

Former executive director of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, Gerald Ankrah has also conceded that the media can’t escape blame in the quality of content being broadcast.

He, however, added that the society must also be vigilant and not blame the media.