John Kenneth Rubio

Communication III
PERSUASIVE SPEECH PLAN
Title: Let the Children Suffer
Specific Speech Purpose: To provide awareness of what is happening to children nowadays.
Also, to inculcate discipline and to establish a sense of responsibility and of accountability for
one another, most especially for children: sibling, relative, relative, or just someone in your
neighborhood.
Statement: The government must hold the children aged 12-17 accountable for the crimes they
have committed, especially when they are proven guilty. Also, parents and guardians must be
held accountable for these criminal acts of their children even if they did not bring about these
delinquents to commit the crimes.
INTRODUCTION
I.

Attention Step: In 2012, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
served some 2,884 children in conflict with the law (CICL), a 9.85% increase from 2011s
2600 juvenile delinquency cases, through Released on Recognizance, Released on Bail,
and Custody Supervision. This is only a small portion of the many unreported cases in
the country. In fact, the number of young offenders has never gone down and is
continually rising. Some of these cases included violent crimes such as murder, rape,
armed robbery, and the like. Unfortunately, young offenders aged 15-18 involved in such
cases will be most likely exempt from criminal liability but will subjected to intervention
programs due to Republic Act 10630 which enforces a program of counseling and
retraining for offenders younger than 15.

II.

Clarification Step: My speech is entitled Let the Children Suffer for I want to address
the growing number of crimes involving children. If a minor who commits crimes was
tried and punished as adults, the number of violent crimes committed by youths would
most probably decline since severe penalties and punishments would be used to keep
these young offenders in check. The RA 10630 seems to be only a band aid measure to
a deeper problem and a medication for it is to let juvenile delinquents suffer the
consequences.
BODY

I.

The government should abolish the juvenile courts and let the young offenders be tried
in the traditional criminal courts.
A. The juvenile court is founded on false premises because its purpose is to shield
youths from the consequences of their own actions.
1. The juvenile courts had functioned to exempt young offenders from adversarial
proceedings, to separate them from adults and to afford them treatment and
education.
2. Some young offenders know how to take advantage of this kind of power against
the law. They tend to repeat their criminals acts knowing that they are immune to
what the law has in store for adult criminals since they are under-aged.
B. The current juvenile crime problem requires that we punish juvenile offenders in
order to prevent the next generation of juveniles from becoming criminals.

I.

1. Our justice system depends upon holding culprits responsible for their actions.
2. Children today are becoming smarter at a younger age, considering the increase
in technology; they can comprehend the meaning of violence and how to use
violent weapons. If they know how to handle weapons means that they
understand what they are doing.
3. To suffer the consequences of their actions means to provide justice to the victim
or to the family of the victim.
According to Norma Marcelino, social welfare officer of Center for Restorative Activities
Development and Learning Experiences (CRADLE), most of the 74 male children aged
15 and above who are accused of crimes come from poor families, mostly from
depressed areas in Paranaque, Pasig, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, San Juan, and Malabon.
A. The government should improve livelihood and welfare programs.
1. They should create meaningful job opportunities and employment training
programs to attack poverty.
2. Some 200,000 students and out-of-school youth were given summer jobs in March 2014
under the Special Program for the Employment of Students, or SPES, according to the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

3. The number of underemployed Filipinos in January, 2014 was estimated at 7.1

million.
B. They should provide free or affordable educational opportunities to the poor, to meet
the varying needs of youth and to defend the personal development of all children,
especially those who need
1. The National Statistics Office (NSO) reports that one out of every five Filipino
children had no early education. Only 15% of children aged 3 to 5 years old are
attending some early childhood program in pre-school, nursery and day care
centers.
2. The Department of Education figures for 2013 showed that a total of 126,368
public school students have dropped out of school in the elementary level while
236, 222 others have discontinued their studies in the secondary level.
II.

The initial causes of juvenile crime are found in the early learning experiences in the
family and peer groups.
A. According to a collaborative journal of Woodrow Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, middle
childhood and early adolescent years were said to be the time wherein children
change their view of themselves, when they question and explore the available
possibilities for them.
B. Based on Philippine National Police statistics, the average reported crime committed
by children for the span of 9 years or from 2002 to 2011 is only 2.6% per year.
Considering that 289,198 crimes happen annually, 7,519 of those crimes involved
children. Most of these children ran away from their family or desolated.
C. Children who have experienced abuse are nine times more likely to become involved
in criminal activities (Gold, Wolan Sullivan, & Lewis, 2011).
D. The proliferation of gangs and availability of drugs due to illegal drug markets have
provided to an effortless exposure to violence, negative role models, and possible
rewards for youthful involvement in violent criminal activities.

CONCLUSION
Summary Step: Ladies and gentlemen, I present this speech because I think that the
government has failed to do its part to alleviate poverty and crime such that children are being
involved in different kinds of heinous crimes. Let everyone know that every child deserves to be
given a head start early in life by ensuring that even before they are born there is already a
protective environment waiting for them where they can be nurtured and guided while their
needs are readily available and secured.
References
Blanco, N. (2011). KRUSADA: Juvenile Delinquency. Retrieved October 20, 2014 from
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/current-affairs-programs/11/21/11/krusada-juvenile-delinquency
Desiderio, L. (2014). Unemployment rises to P7.5% in January. The Philippine Star. Retrieved
October 21, 2014 from http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/03/12/1299885/unemploymentrises-p7.5-january
Gold, J., Wolan Sullivan, M., & Lewis, M. (2011). The relation between abuse and violent
delinquency: The conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders. Child Abuse & Neglect,
35(7), 459467.
(n.d.) Teens Should Absolutely Be Tried as Adults When They Commit Adult Crimes. Retrieved
October 20, 2014 from www.teenink.com/opinion/social_issues_civics/article/162031/TeensShould-Absolutely-Be-Tried-as-Adults-When-They-Commit-Adult-Crimes/
(n.d.) MIMIC: Tackling the Root Causes of Juvenile Delinquency. Retrieved October 21, 2014
from
http://www.philasocialinnovations.org/site/index.php?option_content&id=116%3Amimictackling-the-root-causes-of-juvenile-delinquency&Itemid=35&limitstart=1
Roch, S. (2002). Dossier Front Nouveau de Belgique. La dlinquance des jeunes: les 13-19
ans racontent leurs dlits, [juvenile delinquency: offenders aged 13 to 19 discuss their offences].
ditions du Seuil, France.
Sabangan, A. (2011). Children in crime: Cracks in the country's juvenile justice system.
Retrieved October 20, 2014 from http://www.interaksyon.com/article/14780/children-in-crimecracks-in-the-countrys-juvenile-justice-system
Santos, T. (2014). Wanted: Students, dropouts. The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October
21, 2014 from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/588418/wanted-students-dropouts