There are many ideas people have for the reasons children and teens are delinquent, they include; economic background, substance abuse, delinquent peer groups, repeated exposure to violence, increased availability of firearms, and media violence. I feel that the main causes of these problems are the breakdown of families, too much concern with controlling the child rather than raising the child responsibly, and economic status. .
In today's society one must have a license to drive a car, a permit to carry a gun, yet, no one needs to be certified to be a parent. Anyone who has the ability can make and give birth to a child, whether they are fifteen or forty. .
Parents have a lot to do with whether their children are delinquent or not. By delinquent I mean chronic problems with the law, such as, robbery, vandalism, or drug use that has gone past experimentation into full addiction. Parents need to teach their children to make responsible decisions for themselves, not force them, by threat of punishment, to make the decisions they, as parents, would make (Kortege, 1997). .
During adolescence children are trying to find their own identity, separate from their parents and their family. This is usually when conflict between teens, parents, and authority figures erupts. Teens are trying to be their own person, while all these authority figures who say to them, "they remember what it was like to be their age," are telling them how to act. I see this situation as a definite conflict. .
There are three parenting strategies experts usually agree will escalate adolescent problems:.
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The authoritarian parent tends to have and emphasize very strict rules with very harsh consequences. This type of parent tends to leave no room for discussion or negotiation. This is the type of parent which tell the child how to act and use the threat of punishment to make them obey their wishes. .
The indulgent parent tends to spoil his or her child with material things, thinking this is an effective way of showing affection and support.