One crime in ten committed by children

The number of crimes committed by children in Slovakia is alarming - around 10,000 or 10 percent of all reported crimes, says SME daily. Children aged under 15 are responsible for half of these crimes and the nature of the crimes is increasingly violent. Last week, for example, a 54-year-old man was beaten up and robbed of Sk800 by two under-15s in Husina village, Banska Bystrica region. In larger cities, meanwhile, children's gangs are becoming an increasing problem.

It is against such a background that the Justice Ministry has proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 years. According to psychologists, parents and schools should bear greater responsibility for the actions of children. Jan Varmus, of the Research Institute of Child Psychology, notes an increase in the gravity of crimes commited by children and rising levels of aggressiveness among children at primary and secondary schools.