Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 23, 2021 (SKNIS): Shaneze Sam, Case Worker at the New Horizons Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, said that the type of school a child attends, their level of education, and broken homes are some of the largest contributing factors to juvenile delinquency that the institution has experienced.
“We will see the ones who are not as academically inclined but the classes are so big in the public school that they don’t have the attention that they need to develop their skills so they become the class clown or they act out just to gain some attention,” said Ms. Sam during her June 23 appearance on Working for You.
Ms. Sam noted that the lack of parental affection and guidance among others also contributes to delinquent behaviour in children.
“What we have come across is that children who are in bad areas, areas that would have been marked as poverty-stricken, those are normally the children who we see come through our gates,” she said. “The ones who are coming from broken homes – that doesn’t necessarily mean single parent homes – but a break down in the structure in the home.”
Other leading contributory factors to juvenile delinquency include but are not limited to violence in the home, the social circle of juveniles, peer pressure, lack of moral guidance, and substance abuse.
