Effects of Media on Youth Criminals

Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) has a rule of not showing the youth criminals on media because of the privacy of the youth. But, if we ignore the fact of their privacy and show the media what they have done, how would it affect the other youth of their age? - youth criminal justice act is for 12-17-year-old youth. - YCJA has many other parts to it such as tries to avoid the criminal record, Prohibits adult sentences for 12 - 14-year-olds. If we show the media what the youth criminal has done it can make the youth more disciplined,  youth would get to know YCJA, and would get curious. However, they would see the violence of the crime and obtain violence themselves because of what they see on their feed or on the news. The negative and positive effects of media seeing a youth criminal are contrasting.

The youth who are in the age of 12-17 would get to know what is YCJA with social media telling them the consequences and what the youth criminal did. Many youths have a phone and have social media and they do almost everything social media says. Youth use the media to see what is new and to see the news of what is going on. The youth know more about the news than any parent does. Youth also learn new things from the media and use that information daily. On most media and quick online chat, news spreads fast. News spreads fast which means most people would get to know the news quickly. A downside is that the media does not tell everything that has happened. Which would give the youth unreliable sources. Many journalists lie to the media to make government officials look bad or good. “They would have more money with the people sharing the video or picture of lies.” (hbr.org) Half the truth is not the full truth.(sounds more dramatic when said in Hindi or Punjabi). Getting to know YCJA is a positive advantage but can get out of control when the truth is not shown.

The media may show everything that has happened and would give many youths the idea that doing crime is bad. As I told you before, youth learn new things every day from the media/social media. Many youths have media sites downloaded and see new habits or tricks which they do or stop doing.  An example is a guy on TikTok who said to use Cera ve because it will clear your skin. Many people went to have this face wash which made the stores all out of stock of Cera ve. The teens would also feel as if they belong to Canada. The 12-17-year-olds would sense maturity. They would know their rights and responsibilities which would help them believe they are actually Canadian citizens and show positivity. Youth feel older and wiser because they know they have a responsibility in hand of not doing a crime. They would want to stop youth crimes by helping other youth of their age. However, they can start being rude or showing off that they are not criminals and the youth crime is. The youth would not gain many disciplines with seeing the youth criminal but get more violent - “Exposure to violence in laboratory and field experiments is as likely to affect non-aggressive antisocial behavior as it does aggressive behavior”(annualreviews.org) 

Youth are still learning and would ask many questions to the YCJA and the youth criminals they saw on the media. Youth have learned new information and would have many questions. Youth are still young and are still learning, so they would ask many questions. Minority groups learn about YCJA when they are 14 but when they are 12 they don’t know what the YCJA is. When youth learn new information they would ask questions and have very curious questions. “Curiosity killed the cat” Ben Jonson. “New research suggests that although curiosity has many potent benefits it is actually a double-edged sword with a potential dark side.” (psychologytoday.com). The dark side could be finding a dead-end or getting yourself stuck in all your questions. If youth get curious they can know more about the YCJA which would give them knowledge.

There are many contrasting effects of the media seeing a youth criminal. The minority group would get to know about YCJA and would gain more knowledge of their rights and responsibilities. Getting to know about their rights and responsibilities is a positive effect of seeing youth criminals in the media. The youth would also have many questions on the YCJA which would give them another interest. Gaining another interest would make youth not spend much time on screen. Youth would not really obtain discipline and mature seeing violence on youth criminals. Seeing these criminals might make them more violent and give more aggressive emotions. The effect of minority groups seeing youth criminals would make youth feel more able, intelligent, responsible, aggressive behavior, and violent.