Youth Crime! Some Examples On How To Control ItAugust 8, 2008
Following on from our last piece on the 27% increase in the number of children and youths convicted or cautioned in England and Wales, what should we do about it? The government appears paralysed about tackling this problem effectively with initiatives on this and initiatives on that but never getting to the root of the problem.
As a society we need to handle youth crime better, but how? Sadly discipline should begin at home but all too often it is left to schools to try and teach children conformity to the rule of law but if that same discipline is not in place at home as well, whatever they learn at school, children will believe it only applies to school! After all, if you are told at school that you cannot leave a desk or table without permission, or that you are not allowed to interrupt while someone is already talking but this is not enforced at home, then it is not long before a child believes that those rules must only apply at school.
Below are some options that are being considered and discussed as an alternative way to deal with out-of-control youth crime in the UK.
OPTIONS:
National Service :
There is a growing cry to re-introduce National Service. Can this be an option? Forcing 18 year olds to join the Armed Forces for a set period would certainly enforce the concept of discipline within them. Believe me you really have no choice but to learn to do as you are told and to follow the rules otherwise, ever increasing penalties may be imposed and it is generally not long before you begin to realise that if you conform you start to have a better life and more freedom.
Three Strike Policy:
This is used in several countries whereby if you continue to commit offences, by the third time you come before the courts you face a statutory punishment irrespective of personal circumstances. This works because the person concerned knows that they have already been before the Justices twice and therefore they know that the next time, there is a Statutory Punishment coming their way for example it could be a form of National Service as previously mentioned say for a period of 12 months or perhaps a 3 month army course run rather like Boot Camp.
Zero Tolerance:
This type of policy has had tremendous positive results in most places where it has been tried including New York (murder capital of the world) and where the crime rate was astronomical. One or two forward thinking police chiefs have instigated such a policy with generally good results in this country too, but it probably needs to be taken further. It is no use incarcerating someone under this policy unless there are specially designed holding units for them, just sending them to a normal prison is likely to be counter-productive because they are simply going to be mixing with much more hardened criminals who will teach them even more in criminal behavior!
In the meantime, while youth crime continues to largely go unpunished, continues to rise and the country continues to just talk about a solution, there are a choice of various types of Personal Alarms available which will at least make the holder feel a bit safer knowing that if anything untoward should happen, they are able to attract attention quickly by simply pulling the pin and producing 130+ decibels!
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