The link between school failure and juvenile delinquency has been a hard puzzle to solve. It is common knowledge that many juvenile delinquents fail in school. Some scholars suggest that the nature of the behavior of the delinquent themselves makes it impossible for them to succeed in school. On the other hand, some opinions suggest that failure in school leads to frustrations that can lead to delinquency. Both of the opinions have relevance but school failure is more likely the cause of delinquency.
There are many causes of delinquency such as child abuse, environmental and economic factors. Thus, delinquency in students may have originated from sources other than the school. Learning needs concentration, cooperation between students and educators, and hard work from the student. Delinquency leads to behaviors that are not compatible with learning. A delinquent student is deviant, fails to cooperate in school, and also fails to work hard; such behaviors would lead to failure (Brandon, C., and Siegel, L., 2008, p340).
School failure can be a direct cause of delinquency. Failing in school invokes frustrations in a student especially when they work hard but fail to succeed. The economic system of our country has made education to be the major door to success in life. School failure may make a student believe that they cannot be able to succeed in life (Brandon, C., and Siegel, L., 2008, p341). Most students are under direct or indirect pressure to succeed in school. Failure in school thus leads to poor response from relatives and other important persons in a student’s life. This may lead to a child developing a feeling of rejection that can invoke delinquency behaviors.
Failure in school is taken with a lot of emotions from a student and may lead to emotional and psychological problems. Psychological and emotional problems are the cause of the antisocial behavior observed in delinquents. Failing in school is may affect the self-esteem of a student. Low self-esteem has been noted as one of the causes of delinquency (Brandon, C., and Siegel, L., 2008, p332). Thus, low self-esteem developed from school failure may lead a student to acquire the behaviors associated with delinquency.
School failure is not unique to the delinquent student alone, it is also observed in other students. School failure and delinquency may be effects of other causes other than the school environment. This suggests that, although there could a correlation between school failure and delinquency, the actual cause of delinquency may have developed from another source.
There is a strong correlation between school failure and delinquency. Delinquency can cause school failure due to the inability of delinquent students to concentrate on their studies. On the other hand, school failure may directly or indirectly lead to delinquency. The feeling of frustration and rejection associated with school failure may lead to delinquent behaviors. School failure may lower a student’s self-esteem leading to emotional and psychological problems that are associated with delinquency. Schools and students’ families can contribute to solutions to this problem. Families should understand and support their children even they fail in school. On the other hand, the school should work hard to raise students’ self-esteem.
Reference List
Brandon, C., and Siegel, L. (2008). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. New York: Cengage Learning.