On Juvenile Crimes
Background of Frequent Juvenile Crimes
We are shocked at a series of cases involving children, particularly
the ones that took place last summer; the kidnapping and killing
of a four-year-old boy by a 12-year-old junior high student
in Nagasaki, and the murder of a high school student by junior
high and high school students in Okinawa.
Regarding these cases, the then state minister in charge of
youth policy Konoike Yoshitada came under fire for his remarks
that all parents of the children who committed a crime should
be exposed to the public, giving the blame on the parents for
the juvenile crimes. He also asserted that the postwar Education
Ministry should be held responsible for children's wrongdoing
because it has promoted an improper education based on human
rights, benevolence, and equality, with little attention to
competition. His statement misrepresents the facts, and acquits
the government and the Education Ministry of their responsibility
for having consistently promoted a competitive education centered
on entrance exams, forcing children to endure a school life
without latitude.
Toughing Penalty Is Not a Solution
To deal with the frequent occurrence of youth crimes, the government
"revised" the Juvenile Law in 2000, lowering the age at which
juveniles can be held criminally responsible from 16 to 14.
The fact that juvenile crimes have continued to occur even after
the revision shows that toughening of penalty cannot be a solution
to the problem.
What is needed for a real solution of the problem is that the
government and the Education Ministry promote education aiming
at building character in accordance with the Constitution and
the Fundamental Law of Education, and education which guarantees
the child's right to freedom of expression based on the Convention
on the Rights of the Child. The government also should take
measures without delay for fundamental solution of the social
problems affecting children such as competitive education, dilution
of human relations in local communities, and the way of work
imposed on their parents.
On Declining Birthrates
To deal with the nation's declining birthrates, the Japanese
government in 2003 enacted three laws, namely, the Basic Law
on Measures for Birthrates Declining, the Law for Measures to
Support the Development of the Next Generation, and the Revised
Child Welfare Law. We see problems in these laws.
Lack of Analysis and Verification
These legislations lack sufficient analysis and verification
on the cause of birthrates decline. The Basic Law on Measures
for Birthrates Declining lays weight on changing the people's
awareness on the dignity of life and the role of the family.
Taking into account the result of opinion polls which shows
the major cause hindering married couples from having the number
of children as they wish is the high cost of child-rearing,
the first thing to be done is to improve the environment under
the initiative of the central and local governments in which
parents can raise their children without anxiety.
The Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next
Generation stresses the parents' responsibility for childrearing,
leaving the responsibility of state and local governments in
ambiguity. The responsibility of state and local governments
should be made clear, in compliance with the existing Child
Welfare Law.
Contradictions of Government's Policy on Balancing of Work
and Family
While stipulating the improvement of employment environment
and obligating local governments and corporations to create
plans of action to help workers reconcile work and family responsibilities,
the government has adversely revised labor laws legalizing long
working hours and unpaid overtime work, expanding dispatch labor,
and replacing regular employees with just-in-time workers on
a contract of three or five years. Far from improving the childrearing
environment, these measures only help to make it even more difficult
for working fathers and mothers to equally participate in childrearing.
The revised Child Welfare Law obligates local governments to
make plans for solving the problem of long waiting lists for
childcare facilities. On the other hand, the Health and Labor
Ministry has already implemented a policy to introduce the private
sector in this field, abandoning the responsibility of the state.
What is more, the entrance of profit-oriented private capital
in childcare service has lowered the quality of the service.
We Demand Support for Childrearing through:
- Improvement of pediatric care system, establishment of a national
free medical care for preschool children
- Expansion of public childcare facilities with lower fees
- Guarantee of a free education in compliance with the Constitution,
drastic cut in tuitions of high schools and universities
- Establishment of small class size with a maximum of 30 students
- Expansion of after-school care for children
- Ensuring jobs for young generations with stable income, etc.
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