It is just as fast to order baptism as a pizza. On Snapchat you can buy everything from hashish to cocaine, and it is delivered quickly and discreetly. There are no hidden alleyways and dark alleys, but rather messages that disappear after a few seconds. For us young people, this is no surprise. We know where the boundaries are going. And we know when it does not have consequences. For some crime is about money. For others, it’s about tension or pressure. But for whatever reason, everyone knows one thing: If you are under 15, nothing happens. The police cannot punish you. You can rob someone, threaten someone, sell drugs – and the worst thing that can happen is a concern. Maybe. Often not even that. At the same time, politicians and adults are in their heads. How can youth commit such serious offenses? How can they be so ruthless? The answer is simple: Because we can. We grow up in a society where we are constantly hearing that we are too young to understand the consequences of our own actions. When we make mistakes, we are excused. When we commit crime, we are shielded. It’s no wonder someone exploits it. But it’s not just those who perform the crime who know it. The rest of us know it too. We who move around the center or visit a big city in the evening, check over the shoulder and wonder if we have something valuable that can tempt for robbery. We who watch videos of robbery and violence on Tiktok, filmed by youth who know nothing will happen to them. We who know that a 13-year-old with a knife is as dangerous as a 30-year-old with a knife, but is still treated as a child without responsibility. At the same time, there is a lot of talk that society must take responsibility. That we must help instead of punishing. And yes, there are young people who end up on the wrong track because they never got a chance. But when we discuss solutions, we can’t pretend all criminal adolescents are helpless victims. Many people know well what they are doing. They know that the system is on their side and that the adults are more concerned with understanding them than stopping them. Admittedly, some young people may have forced institutional placement, but it applies to the very few. Lowering the criminal age is not about sending 13-year-olds in prison. It is about ensuring that offenses have consequences. We have to stop pretending those who rob, threaten and injure others do not understand what they are doing. They understand it. They know exactly what they do. The question is whether society does. Send us your utterance desire to write? Feel free to contact us in news Ytring with your post. The guidelines can be found here. Published 15.03.2025, at. 11.21
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