Faced with the serious increase in juvenile crime, we risk saying the right but rather general things. Instead, the drama of the wounded bodies, even mortally, and of those movements of the hands that strike and insert the blades into the flesh of other young people requires concrete answers. The analysis serves to prepare them, but they are not enough to make them as effective as the evil to which they must respond. Against a climate of resignation that hovers in the institutions, we must immediately oppose radical interventions in favor of the school, therefore of teaching, of class training, of the preparation of teachers, of construction.
Faced with a long neglect of prevention, social and health services, we need a drastic change in politics and a renewed impulse from citizens, such as the one that led to the dismantling of mental hospitals. Faced with a relaxation of judgment on so-called “soft” drugs, a reawakening of families and customs is needed. When hostile attitudes towards young immigrants are promoted, the ground is cultivated for their marginalization and disbandment. And when we increase building speculation in favor of the wealthier, pushing the suburbs towards degradation and a lack of services, we prove ourselves blind: while crime in general drops, juvenile crime grows by one hundred and fifty percent in a year.
Yes, certainty of penalties is needed; we need places of containment and re-education. Along with the protection of rights, their connection with duties and responsibilities is beneficial: what can come from all educational settings and at the same time from the example of correctness and honesty of those who carry out public functions.
I know, it’s easier to say that we need to punish severely, that the courts and the police need to be strengthened: and it’s true. But it’s only partially enough. Latino gangs, for example, require penetrating and very severe interventions; However, they too raise their heads in degraded moments and contexts.
Let’s not lie to ourselves. Could we reject the doubt that there is some connection between the flight of young people abroad, the level of youth suicides, the disaffection of the most recent generations with respect to politics and parties? It is not enough to say that perhaps, yes, we are no longer a country for young people.
