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The story
Bengo4.com News reports that after hitting a record low, the number of children entering juvenile detention centers has started climbing again, and former juvenile detention center wardens have weighed in on why. The article points to the possibility that pandemic-era financial hardship hit families directly, with abuse and poverty affecting children firsthand. On 5ch, alongside the view that COVID-era household strain is the cause, users debated a wide range of explanations — from how the Juvenile Law should work, to measures against reoffending, to social media inflating kids’ need for validation.
Published Mon, Sep 14, 10:30 AM
Bengo4.com News
The number of children entering juvenile detention centers is rising again.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Yeah, parents' poverty hits kids directly. Also, some kids who were barely scraping by because their parents were out of the house a lot ended up getting abused worse once the parents were stuck home all the time — so they ran away, and crime became their safety net.
Ashita no Joe, that takes me back.
Nishi was tough back in those days though.
The classification home is exactly what the name says — a place for 'classification.' Commissioned by the family court, they have kids do things like play in sand or draw, and use that to decide whether to send them to juvenile detention or put them on probation. That's why it's located near the family court. It's nothing like the brutal prison you see in manga.
Before that there's 'jisou' (the child guidance center).
Feels like the gap is widening. The average's probably dropping.
It's the parents' fault.
Parents, quit making excuses.
That's why welfare cases among young people keep climbing.
Middle and high schoolers who can't get recognized through studying or sports turn bad.
They want to look flashy and need money for it.
Regular work won't cut it.
This world is finished.
Guess that's the biggest factor. What an ugly world we've become.
'Idle hands do the devil's work' — as the old saying goes, a petty person left idle turns to no good.
Ah, my law lecturer back in college used to say giving men free time never leads to anything good.
I wonder what it looks like as a share of the generation's population?
I wish repeat offenders got life in prison or the death penalty.
Life imprisonment costs too much, and the death penalty's hard to actually carry out. Just strip their human rights and make them 'crime slaves,' that'd do.
You all better watch out for 'ojigari' (gangs mugging middle-aged men) and robbery-rape too.
Seriously, these days when you walk past a spot where middle and high schoolers are hanging out, you'd better avoid eye contact or they'll pick a fight and surround you.
School refusal is at a record high.
Welfare cases among people in their 20s are up sevenfold.
It really does come down to how kids are raised.
Lack of perseverance comes from being spoiled too much.
The parents' generation has clearly gone downhill, so of course the kids do too.
Women and the elderly should watch out.
Might be because their parents are from the low-income 'Employment Ice Age' generation.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The number of new admissions to juvenile detention centers had been on a long decline, hitting a record low around 2021, but has since turned upward again. Former wardens point to the period of stay-at-home requests and school closures during the pandemic, when abuse and domestic violence inside the home became harder for outsiders to spot, and financial hardship hit children directly, as one contributing factor. On the thread, while comments citing worsening household finances stood out, opinions were split — some called for tougher enforcement of the Juvenile Law and stronger measures against reoffending, others pointed to social media inflating the need for validation as a driver of delinquency. It’s also worth keeping in mind, as one commenter noted, that ‘the number of children overall is shrinking even as the case count rises’ — meaning readers should look at the rate relative to the youth population, not just the raw numbers, to avoid misreading the actual trend.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread ‘Why Are More “Children” Entering Juvenile Detention? Former Wardens Point to the Lingering Scars of “COVID-19” After a Record Low.’
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