Parens Patriae: The Juvenile Court System

Parens patriae is a Latin word which implies the legal duty of parents especially fathers to protect their children. It also suggests that the government has the legal duty to protect its citizens. The stand of this principle is that there exists a superior authority that is titled to care and protect for the inferior persons in the society. A juvenile court system is the judicial system that is tasked with the duty of handling cases relating to youths and or rather minors in the society. The orientation taken by the juvenile courts is far much different from the normal judicial courts. The juvenile courts are mainly focused on rectifying the behavior of individuals through a rehabilitation process. They try shaping the conduct of the person
They simply commit illegal acts guide and led by their wrong attitude adapted in the family settings they are brought up. They clearly distinguish right from wrong but that matters less to them. Their conscious bothers them very little when they are breaking the law despite the fact that they understand that it is not the right thing to do. Family setting thus plays a significant role, not in making one understand the laws but rather, in shaping the way one is able to respond to the laws. Coming from a family where everyone is a lawbreaker and careless as far as the law is concerned does not mean that you too should be ignorant of the laws. Your family setting should not be a scapegoat for you committing illegal acts and laying blame on it. One should be held responsible for their actions in regardless of the family setting because understanding and interpretation of the law is solely dependent on an
Occasionally, you will hear people blaming or attributing their actions to a second or third party. This act makes us see the persons in question as ‘victims’ rather than culprits for the actions committed. A person will try their level best to justify their actions especially where it is wrong deeds by blaming someone else or even the circumstance in which they did what they did. When a minor is caught drunk for instance, they will quickly tell you that they did not intend to do so were it not for their peers who made them go to a party and in the process got drunk. They will not admit that they broke the law that alcohol is not to be taken by