Therefore, it should rightly provide leadership to bring morality back to the lives of our kids, because morally deprived kids are the ones most likely to become criminals. Government can provide leadership by challenging and assisting civic, community, and even church organizations to get involved in the lives of our youth. It is also clear that our forefathers trusted in the virtues and integrity of churches to provide a moral compass to the nation and to its citizens. Yet, we see today that churches no longer impact the community the way they did in the days of America's founding. Churches must be allowed, and even encouraged, to partner with schools and service agencies to provide much needed time and assistance.
Churches are truly an untapped resource.
We must rescue young America from the crisis that destroys them just as it is destroying us as a nation. In the 1700's, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that America's goodness can be seen in its churches and religious institutions and that because of these, America is great. He adds, however, that if America ever ceases to be good, it will cease to be great. This moral goodness, embedded in our history, must now become part of the government's arsenal to stem the epidemic of juvenile crime. God help us to respond.