Mumbai edit: Young and wayward

The arrest of three teenagers in Pune in connection with the murder of a 16-year-old lad — whom they had allegedly abducted because they wanted to extract Rs50,000 from his family to ‘have some fun’ — is not just sad but chilling. Across the country, especially in our metropolitan cities, instances of school and college students getting involved in not just petty but also serious crimes are beginning to occur with a worrying frequency.

What stands out is how the thirst for easy money and a shocking lack of respect for human life are seeping into the minds of our youngsters. Clearly the problem, or at least a part of it, can be traced to the chasm that is growing between the two vaunted institutions of family and school.

For instance, how many parents even know all their children’s Facebook and chat friends? Do they know what activities their young ones are busy with in their spare time? Do our schools have a system in place to identify troubled students and nurse them back to normalcy? Is there a proper channel of communication between parent and teacher that will help to identify and rectify delinquency before it gets out of hand? In short, is our society paying as much attention to our young ones as it ought to?

The short answer to that, unfortunately, would have to be ‘no.’ The price for this lapse, however, as is getting increasingly evident, could be very high indeed. In the end, we can blame the internet, films, video games and politicians all we want, but the root of the problem may well lie within. There is no substitute for parental or elderly attention and guidance, is there?