National Service for petty crims? It has been suggested, here in Australia,
By cloudwatcher
@cloudwatcher (6861)
Australia
April 25, 2007 4:34am CST
that a reasonable penalty for some crimes be a term of compulsory National Service.
Juvenile crime and vandalism is rampant. Only today it was reported that someone was caught stealing from a store just hours after leaving court where he had received a probationary sentence for earlier break and enter offences. He was also driving unlicensed.
Recently there have been cases of young men bashing and causing serious injuries to elderly folks.
Is community service an adequate penalty?
Will a prison sentence do other than teach them more crimes from their cell mates?
Rehabilitation programs don't seem to do much good.
Would a term of National Service be beneficial? In what ways?
Please share your thoughts.
4 people like this
2 responses
@ItTakesAllSorts (4096)
•
26 Apr 07
We are having the same problems in this country and I believe it is alot to do with the lack of morals and the 'want now' attitude alot of people have.
Communities have broken down, kids are not being looked after properly and society has turned selfish.
We are to blame for the way society has turned out and then we wonder why things are so bad among the youth. I do not understand how punishing them can help them. Prevention rather than cure is the solution and if we supported those who come from disfunctional families, this would be better than locking them up or putting them into the army.
I see this among the group of friends my daughter knows. They are all around 15-20 years and they are like a lost youth. I had a girl stay with me the other week, who was being put in care, torn away from her brothers and sisters, she is only 14 years old. Another girl, only 15 yrs, kicked out by her mother and fending for herself. Social services are useless and her mother does not even know where she is staying at the moment. If these situtions were rare it would not be so bad, but so many kids nowdays are rejected by their parents and it makes me sick.
We have even got ASBO's (anti-social behaviour order) which our present government introduced to the UK. I do not agree with them, its as if we just cannot deal with things anymore, so we go against the very people, young and old who need help. Parents should be helped, but they are prosecuted, children should be helped as soon as possible, but we stick a label on them or issue them with an ASBO! We seem to be detaching ourselves from the youth and fearing them.
We as a society need to take back control and teach kids how to be responsible. So many children in the UK are excluded from schools, there is high unemployment, salaries are low, immigrants are welcomed in to be exploited and do the jobs working class people use to do, because big business can pay them even lower wages. The divide between rich and poor is getting wider, and when young people who have been failed by society, but are bombarded through the media on what they should be having, in materialistic terms, they will get it by any means possible and not care who gets in their way.
I am not saying the majority are like this but there is alot of youth here that do live by these standards and it is increasing. I hate what Tony Blair and his party have done to this country, and they are the ones who should have ASBO's slapped on them for what they have done.
It really angers me and worries me as to what the future holds for alot of our youth as they get older. Our prisons are full, gang related crime is on the increase. The poor are getting poorer and education sucks for those who's mummy's and daddy's can't afford or twist the law to get them into a decent school.
Then we wonder why the youth do not care anymore.
I am sorry for ranting but I get so angry by what is happening in my country. Thanks for the discussion!! +
2 people like this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
26 Apr 07
Please don't be sorry for that "ranting". I totally agree with everything you said (well, with the possible exception regarding Tony Blair: I'm not qualified to agree or disagree on that one)
What you have said here is informed and well put and I thank you for it. I agree about the disappearing morality and ethics and the "want now" or "must have" attitude. I agree with some American authors I have read who say we have lost a whole generation and on the way towards losing another.
Prevention is always better than cure. So much proposed action nowadays is a matter of locking the gate after the horse has bolted, or supplying an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff rather than erecting a secure fence at the top.
I have worked with teens for many years and I feel for them. They are so vulnerable and many of them now don't WANT help. They have been brought up to please themselves and to satisfy themselves regardless. This is NOT THEIR fault - but what is the solution?
There are a very few rehab centres like cattle properties where young people are "re-trained" but they are very limited in the number they can help. Part of me wonders if National Service would achieve the same type of thing - but the threat of being sent to combat is a reality now where it wasn't a few years ago.
2 people like this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
28 Apr 07
WOW! Now THAT is a rant of which I heartily approve.
I am also dealing with teenagers like you describe and it is heartbreaking. The change over the years has been really going down and down. I really feel for these young people. I firmly believe teens are the most vulnerable people in our society and the more we can do for them, the better. The most heartbreaking things about them is that most of them don't WANT to be helped.
We are able to help the few, but what can be done about the majority? As you say, it is not isolated. It appears to be happening everywhere - and worsening - but our governments and our legal system and health care system and education system are hopeless.
I wish you had put this as a response instead of a comment. It is fully deserving of a best response, but I don't have that option.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
26 Apr 07
It isn't an easy one Gabs. The fact is that the crime rate increases. Reasons seems to be numerous, but solutions are hard to come by. Personally I believe we need a return to the old fashioned morals and ethics where children are taught correctly from infancy and brought up in a more disciplined lifestyle. Many would not agree with me there.
1 person likes this
