SCRIPT (BUSINESS ENGLISH) Justine: There are a number of approaches to

understanding juvenile delinquency. It can be in a

Roles:
religious or ethical point of view, a sociological
ROLE NAME point of view or a psychological pint of view. There
Moderator Dewi is also a criteria to be considered in deining juvenile
Students (2) Vann (and Allen) delinquency.
Teachers (2) Taziana and KC
Dewi: Who are the ones you call juvenile
Lawyer Dan
Guidance counsellor Kariza delinquents or juveniles?
Parent (Housewife) Dannah Francine: Juvenile delinquents are teenagers who
Neurologist Emil committed a violation.
Journalist Francine
Child Psychologist Justine Dewi: Is there any pattern between the behaviors of
Historian Judienne juveniles all around the world?
Francine: I made a research on crimes committed
Dialogues: by minors. These are the examples: In Okayama,
Japan, a teenager was arrested for pushing a 28-
Dewi: Good _______. Nowadays, not only are
year-old man off a platform at a railway station,
adults in conflict with the law, but kids aged 10 to
causing him to be killed by a train. In Darwin,
18 are. In the Philippines, frequent news reports of
Australia, two teenage boys murdered two female
adolescents and teenagers committing serious
Thai prostitutes. The boys tied the women up &
violations fill our tv networks and newsprints. The
tossed them alive into a crocodile-infested river. In
panel discussion today focuses on juvenile
London, England, police arrested four teenagers for
delinquency so we have invited 10/11 random
the killing of a 10-year-old immigrant from Nigeria.
persons to be our panelists. May I call on Atty. Dan
In St. Petersburg, Russia, a group of 10 to 12
Cojpag, Chief Inspector Vann Aquino, Dr. Justine
drunken teenagers beat and stabbed a 9-year-old
Tupasi, a child psychologist, Dr. Emil Ramos, a
Tajik girl to death and severely wounded her father
neurologist, Judienne Pilpil, a historian, Francine
and 11-year-old cousin.
Dumangeng, a journalist, Kariza Lumase, a
guidance counselor, Taziana Regis and Kristine Justine: Based on Ms. Dumangengs research, one
Nunez who are both teachers Dannah Itchon, a can infer that there is no pattern between a
housewife, and Vann Aquino, a Grade 9 student. juveniles behavior.
Welcome everyone. I am Dewi Messakaraeng, your
Dewi: The research you made, Ms. Francine is
moderator and panelist for today.
just morbid. What I mean to say is, it is very
Everyone greets Dewi, one by one. detailed. Are there any types of delinquents?
Dewi: First, I would like to show these pictures to Dan: Yes, in fact we 4 types in the juvenile justice
start springboard our topic of discussion for today. system. The first is the mandatory sentence
offender, who has been adjudicated twice or once.
(Show pictures)
The second is repeat juvenile offender , who has
Dewi: We now officially start the discussion. So, been adjudicated for a juvenile act that constitutes a
what exactly is juvenile delinquency? felony. A violent juvenile offender is at least 13-
years-old who has been adjudicated for a juvenile
Dan: In my expertise, juvenile delinquency or act that constitutes a crime of violence. Lastly, an
juvenile offending is a participation of illegal aggravated juvenile offender is at least 12 years-
behaviors among minors. Minors are defined as old and has been adjudicated for a juvenile act that
people younger than the statute age of authority. constitutes a class 1 or 2 felony.
Justine: Juvenile delinquency, psychologically Dewi: And so, there is no denying the fact that
defined, is a complex phenomenon in minors, which children have been viewed as inferior to adults
is difficult to define, measure, explain and prevent. throughout history. In the process, societies have
Dewi: Could you elaborate further, Dr. Tupasi and built vetoes to addressing these juvenile behaviors.
Atty. Cojpag? So, Ms. Pilpil, what are these prohibitions? And
what is the history of juvenile delinquency?
Dan: Crimes committed by minors are called
delinquent acts. Instead of a trial, the juvenile has Judienne: One way of preventing this matter is the
an adjudication, after which he/she receives a Code of Hammurabi, the oldest known set of laws,
disposition and a sentence. which has the famous saying, An eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth. The Greek empire, however,
created laws that held parents responsible for their Dewi: What the lot of you want to point out is that
childrens juvenile behavior because juvenile there are different factors contributing to juvenile
delinquency was very rampant at this time. Some delinquency. Can you please enumerate at least ten
historians would blame this on the Greek myths factors?
about war and violent gods such as Medea killing
Justine: From my point of view, a minor is driven
her children in vengeance of her husband leaving
to delinquency by the negative aspects of social and
her for another woman, etc. During the Middle
economic developments such as the weakening of
ages, there was very little documentation describing
major institutions such as the government, systems
juvenile behaviors, but the writings that do exist
of public education, the community, etc.
suggest that children were treated cruelly. But, these
children were viewed as mini-adults who are Kariza: In my opinion, delinquent acts occur in
liberated. One of the best accounts of juvenile social settings where the norms have been broken
delinquency was during the 16-17th centuries. The down. These drastic changes in social reality is
youth of Seville, Spain would commit unlawful acts countered by rebellious, deviant or criminal acts. An
such as gambling, drinking, prostitution and example of this is the modernization of
homosexual solicitation. In the 18th century, one of communities and the spread of technology. These
the most often used sentence in England was exile lead to a change in lifestyles and living
from the country. In the American civilization, arrangements, etc.
children were both treated badly by law and by
adults. K.C. : As a teacher or a second parent, I believe
that the family contributes a lot to juvenile
Dewi: What stood out to me was the matter on the delinquency. Most of my students who are rebels,
Greek empire. You said that they made laws holding are teenagers who have family problems which they
parents responsible for childrens crimes. This is a cannot express to others due to fear of rejection.
quote by Edgar Hoover. He said, There is but one They would keep their problems to themselves, thus
way to eliminate delinquency - that is by providing when provoked, will unleash a series of anger-
each child in America with competent parents. driven words and actions that may or may not hurt
What are your thought s about this, Mrs. Itchon? the person who talked to him/her. Children from
dysfunctional families have fewer opportunities for
Dannah: I do believe that parents play a part in
legitimate employment and face a higher risk of
preventing juvenile delinquency. It is common
social exclusion.
knowledge that the more warmth and love a parent
gives to a child; the less he/she is prone to juvenile Taziana: I am teacher, too and I believe that
behavior. immigration is one of the factors. Because
immigrants have little success to adjusting to an
Judienne: This is true because Erikson (1984)
existing legal order, they turn to their environment.
stated that a securely attached child is one that
Natives of a country would perceive immigrants as
approaches a life of trust.
deviants because they show a significant difference
Kariza: Actually, as a guidance counsellor, we must against the norms. Many of my past students have
always first contact the parents of child committing often complained that it is quite difficult for them to
questionable act because children under the age of adjust to a new culture and be talking to people who
17 are still their obligations. are unfamiliar to them. This may be related to the
term, culture shock.
Justine: Also, Hirschis Social Bonding Theory in
1969, delinquency increases when the social bond Dan: Media also influences the youth. In the court,
between the child and society is broken. children who are adjudicated would claim that they
only followed the things they watched in television
Emil: People should always remember that a
or saw in the Internet. A research showed that if the
teenagers mind is not fully developed, especially in
youth watches violent scenes, they would be more
the frontal lobe where it contains the synapses of
prone to aggressive behavior.
decision-making and impulsiveness. It matures in
spurts and takes years to develop. When teenagers Justine: Not only does media influence the youth
make rash decisions, its because the nerve cells today, but also television. What the youth see and
connecting a teenagers frontal lobes with the rest of perceive is what theyre going to follow. They are
their brains are somewhat, sluggish. Also, also very sensitive so theres no real cure to these.
teenagers brain chemistry is turned to be With the rapid changes of our world in technology
responsive towards their environment, which is why and science, its impossible to stop this.
most delinquents are addicted to illegal and harmful
drugs.
Dewi: Atty, Cojpag, how exactly do a juvenile court observe the dos and donts in an environment.
works? Are there any special cases for these Frankly, I just do not get it why delinquents blame it
teenagers? all on adults when they should be partly blamed,
too.
Dan: Each state has special courts -- usually called
juvenile courts -- to deal with minors who have Dewi: How about you, Mr. Dizon? What are your
been accused of violating a criminal statute. The thoughts?
proceedings are civil as opposed to criminal. So, Allen: I do agree with Vann. The delinquents, I
instead of being formally charged with a crime,
dont know, should be given more special care and
juvenile offenders are accused of committing a
be isolated from the mainstream to be treated
delinquent act.
specifically with the problems theyre encountering
Dewi: How can a juvenile case be carried out? in their minds and with their emotions. I also hope
that there would be a school built for these kids but
Dan: A juvenile case gets started when a prosecutor theyll be separated to avoid communication of
or probation officer files a civil petition, charging plans and other forms of escape they might have
the juvenile with violating a criminal statute and with their fellow delinquents.
asking that the court determine that the juvenile is
delinquent. If the charges are proved and a Dewi: Thank you very much. But before we end
delinquency determination is made, the juvenile todays panel discussion. I would like to have a
offender comes under the courts broad powers. At panel games. This will be very quick and its called,
that point, the juvenile court has the authority to do Fast Talk, which was incorporated from a television
what it considers to be in the best interest of the show in the Philippines. It is still related to our topic
juvenile. Often, the juvenile court retains legal of today but instead, we are going to assess if you
authority over the minor for a set period of time -- have been a bit of a rebel before and now.
until the juvenile becomes an adult, or sometimes
even longer. Now, who would like to volunteer?
ANYONE!
Judienne: Based from an article I read, it states:
Roughly half of all juvenile arrests are made for http://infomory.com/famous/famous-juvenile-
theft, simple assault, drug abuse, disorderly killers/
conduct, and curfew violations, according to the
federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. In an average year, only about 3% of
cases heard in juvenile court involved violent
offenses like robbery, rape, murder, and aggravated
assault. Historically, the vast majority of juvenile
court cases have involved male offenders. But the
number of girls entering the juvenile justice system
has been on the rise in recent years -- in an average
year, girls accounted for 27% of all juveniles facing
proceedings in juvenile courts in the U.S.

Dewi: That was a very great discussion on the

juvenile court, Atty Cojpag and Ms. Pilpil. Thank
you for that. I have a question both for Mr. Aquino
and Mr. Dizon. Both of you are Grade 9 students
but took different paths. Mr. Dizon, you are a
known swimmer in your school and congratulations
on your most recent triumph during the CAVRAA
Meet at Ilagan City. Moreover, Mr. Aquino is a
well-known studious student who is quite skilled in
video editing and the likes. What are your opinions
or insights regarding the shared information from
our dear panelists? Well start with Mr. Aquino.

Vann Aquino: I believe that not only are the

parents and authorities responsible for delinquents.
The delinquents themselves must be responsible
enough. Yes, their frontal lobes arent fully
developed but they have the capability to ask and