Take responsibility for minors

The typhoid outbreak in the town of Tuburan may have alarmed  government agencies as the outbreak is being blamed on the absence of chlorine treatment of its water sources. The way I look at it,  overcrowding of people in Tuburan may be contributory to the outbreak. I can’t  remember any typhoid incident happening before Tuburan.

The town’s population increase may be indirectly linked to the contamination of the water sources, mostly springs.

The provincial government should take radical steps to help prevent similar occurrences. Govenor Gwen, using  her skills of political suasion, can convince communities  to take steps to ensure their water source are safe and clean for drinking.

It is of utmost important that water sources in the different towns and cities of  the province provide clean and safe  drinking water.

* * *

Lately many of us have witnessed crimes committed by minor children. The latest is the  bullying incident committed by youngsters in barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City, where a boy  eventually drowned last Feb. 29. He was reportedly pushed into the seawater by an older boy.

The rise of  petty and violent crimes  committed by minors have led  some sectors to clamor for the review and repeal of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006. This special law prohibits the imprisonment of minor children in conflict with the law and places those 15 years and below exempt from criminal liability.

Many critics blame the law for the increase  in crimes by minor offenders. They say  the legal loopholes are being used to encourage minors to commit crimes knowing they won’t be sent to jail.

Funny how  those who want to repeal the law are blaming minors for the offenses. I think we are barking up  the wrong tree here.  We shouldn’t forget that  it is the responsibility of parents and the community to see to it that  minor children are well behaved.

We blame our children for  crimes they commit but forgot to ask ourselves who they learned this from. I think a law should be passed to strengthen  the primary responsibility of parents over their children. When a minor runs afoul of the law, I think the parents should be made accountable.

There are many minor offenders today  because many parents  failed to exercise parental responsibility over offspring. Many kids are neglected or abandoned by their parents.

I think society just wants the easy way out  by clamoring to abolish the Juvenile Justice Law. It’s selfish for us to not want to take responsibility for children and to just send the young lawbreakers to jail. That approach has already proven to be harmful to minors.

Lucky  for those  clamoring for the repeal of the Juvenile Justice Law that they were raised well by  their parents unlike children who are in conflict with the law. They have the misfortune of  being neglected or abandoned by their parents and are exposed to the wrong influences of society from whom they learn to commit crimes.

Instead of imprisonment for minors in conflict with the law, I think the government should stand up for the children and pass laws  to strengthen family and community responsibility for minors.