THE recent news on crime committed by children are on the rise in Malaysia. It seems to be a national concern for all. News of a child being stabbed, being raped or murdered has been circulating the media aggressively.
Although there are many programs carried out; and awareness programmes on issues concerning children are being organized these days, further emphasis needs to be made on its clutch in the lives of young people today and how it may lead them to risky behaviours that may eventually add to the seriousness of the social problems of the country amongst children.
But, the million dollar question is what are root problems for the cases to be increasing alarmingly in recent times?
According to Dato Yasmeen Shariff, President of Malaysian Council of Child Welfare (MKKM), these recent cases should be looked at multiple angles in order from us to devise a comprehensive program for children in mitigating the rising concern of crime among children.
We need to have security features in schools like emergency buttons, CCTVs installed in various parts of the schools, safety SOPS in place with regular audit by the Ministry of Education (MOE) as well as work on legal literacy programs for teachers, parents and students’ said Dato Yasmeen.
The recent increase in the number of reported cases of youth depression and suicides is (proving that measures need to be taken to address these issues. Experts agree that the current lifestyle, environmental factors and social media influence are the greatest predictors influencing the poor communication and depression nowadays.
Gender discrimination, overwork, domestic violence and sexual abuse were also identified as the common problems which affects their mental health. Depression in youth, however, are triggered by issues related to self-esteem, bullying, poor academic performance, sexual orientation or even having been a victim of physical/sexual abuse (Source : Dato’ Dr. Andrew Mohanraj, “My Positive Teen”, Positive Parenting)
A study carried out at the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) clinic of Hospital Kuala Lumpur reported that 33.3% of the survivor of the sexual abuse has been diagnosed for depression. Many local and international studies have shown that emotional abuse is equally as harmful as physical abuse.
It also been observed to have long term effects on their mental, psychosocial and physical growth. According to Professor Dr Kamal Kenny, Vice President of MKKM, ‘Depression in adolescents is more often missed than it is in adults, possibly because of the display of irritability, mood reactivity, and fluctuating symptoms that may just be part of being an adolescent and not necessarily indicate classical symptoms of depression.
Depression can also be missed if the primary presenting problems are unexplained physical symptoms, eating disorders, anxiety, and refusal to attend school, decline in academic performance, substance abuse, or behavioural problems, which many tend to be dismissed as merely an attitudinal issues’.
‘Health care providers have consistently advised those diagnosed with depression to seek early treatment because this will also affect the sexual and reproductive health of young people. Stress greatly influences hormones, physical growth, and nutrition and affect self-esteem.
As mentioned in the many past studies, children who are in depression have a higher likelihood to be involved in early sexual activities. Irregular menses is one of the reasons why many young people have had unwanted pregnancies and due to this resorting to termination of pregnancy, in most occasions in unsafe circumstances Several studies have highlighted that there is still a lack of knowledge among Malaysian adolescents in sexual and reproductive health rights and issues.
The most basic rights of adolescents in sexual and reproductive health is to obtain accurate and complete information about their body functions, sex and sexuality, safer sex, reproduction, consequences of STIs and early pregnancy’ added Dr Kamal Kenny further explaining the seriousness of the current issues of children in Malaysia.
Looking from a different lenses, Roslizawati Ali, Vice President of MMKM too, the stark increasing of young people vaping has also contributed to the many problems we face today. According to Liza ‘The influence of unknown chemical laced solutions found in Vape products ,the mix-interaction that can lead to mental aggression, side effects neuron in the brain’.
‘Vaping affects neurons in the brain, as vaping has a significant impact on brain function and chemistry, particularly due to the effects of nicotine and other chemicals. Nicotine addiction can disrupt brain circuits, and other chemicals in vapes, such as lead and formaldehyde, can be neurotoxic, potentially causing brain damage and affecting cognitive abilities like mood, learning, attention, and impulse control’ added Liza.
As such, it is of paramount urgency that rising crime issues in relation to children must tackled carefully without missing out any factors. We need to acknowledge that our young people and children today are facing the kind of stress which may lead to depression and risky behaviours such as intentional or unintentional injuries, drug and alcohol misuse, tobacco use, risky sexual behaviour, diet and physical inactivity.
Ramrakha, Caspi, Dickson, Moffitt and Paul (2000), in their research, identified an increased probability of risky sexual behaviour across a range of mental health diagnoses.
For a seriously disturbed young person, sexual activity might also be used for diversion, to relieve tension and as a salve of attention-seeking. There is indeed a need to explore the sexual behaviour of young people with depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders and provide them with the tools to cope with their mental health issues.
There is a need for coordinated, consistent and comprehensive interventions to improve the mental and emotional health of our young people in order for them to make informed choices. One such intervention is to introduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in our schools to empower young people to celebrate each other’s differences and thereby making informed choices about their lives.
There needs to be an adequate amount of investment and time spent nurturing their emotional and mental development to balance out the demanding expectations society and institutions have placed on them to consistently perform above average in either academics or other pursuits of life.
CSE programmes will also provide them with life skills to deal with peers and life pressures. It is high time for us to acknowledge the importance of such a programme in the early development of adolescence and demand for such interventions to take place to avoid many more of our children ending up with mental health issues that may lead to risky behaviours.
These interventions will pave way for our children to have comprehensive information and make informed choices; and most importantly redirect our approach in addressing this imperative subject in a preventive context rather than the remedial strategies that we have placed our focus on in the past. – October 16, 2025
***This article was contributed by the by Malaysian Council of Child Welfare (MKKM)