There are plenty of people calling for a tough response for juvenile crime. It sounds like a good idea, especially if you have been the victim of criminal activity in which juveniles are involved. But it ignores the fact that juvenile crime is a symptom, not the disease. Taking medication to lower a fever may make you feel better, but it doesn't do anything to fight the infection that causes the fever. And so it is with children in conflict with the law. They are showing us the symptoms of a world that is out of balance. Children in conflict with the law are reminding us that poverty is not going away; rather it is becoming the affliction of more and more families. They point out to us the spiritual emptiness of much of the world because they reflect to us a materialism that makes that poor always envious of the wealthy - and willing to do almost anything to have the things that they see others having. Children in conflict with the law also show us what the global economy is doing to families on the margins. When parents give up on caring for their children, ravaged by unemployment, substance addiction and despair, the children will look for a way to get the things they need and the things that they want.
But these children are the greatest natural resources we have and if we squander this resource, we have given up on our future. Our efforts here at Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center may be a drop in the bucket, but they signal our understanding that juvenile crime must be addressed by our fighting the actual diseases of society. At Bahay Pag-asa, we cannot easily affect great societal change, but we can begin the changes that take place in a young person by gently encouraging them to exchange stealth for honesty, ignorance for education, and despair for hope.
And, of course, if we begin to know these young people as the sons of God that they are, then our mission is clear and urgent. The Gospel is void of meaning if we, as Christians, walk past these children, looking the other way.
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