Young Offenders Act

The young offenders act is way to lenient. I agree that they should do the time, but I don't think it should be in a maximum security prison. I don't think that juvenile detention centres are the right place either. There is a lot that needs to be taken into account in regards to teens committing crimes, but I think that they are given way too many priveledges. The laws need to be stricter and they need to feel as if they are being punished, not as if they got away scott free.

Another (disgusting) example of how well we are served by the Young Offenders Act: Winnipeg boy, 10, set aflameLast Updated Sun, 22 May 2005 20:52:42 EDT CBC News WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police have laid assault and other charges against two teenagers after a 10-year-old boy was doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. The boy is recovering from second-degree burns after the attack on Saturday. Police said it started after one group of youths invited another to play with lighter fluid. When they refused, the older group chased the younger, caught the youngster and assaulted him. "This is one of the worst cases. Frankly, I myself have not seen a case like this in years. To have a 13, 14 and 11-year-old involved in such a vicious crime is very surprising," said Shelley Glover of the Winnipeg Police Service. Police charged a girl, 13, with aggravated assault and uttering threats, and a boy, 14 with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. The 11-year-old male suspect has not been charged. None of the youths can be named. The victim's mother said it's another example of how violent the city's North End can be. Just two weeks ago, her son was almost stabbed. "All I can say is they are bad kids," she said. "I'm going to take my kids out of this city."

This is an old law and times are changing. There have been a number of juvenile offenders going to court as adults in recent years as their crimes become increasingly more serious. I don't have a problem with that as it teaches them that they are responsible for their own actions and in todays society there can at times be a lack of responsibilty taken for our actions. When children commit serious crimes they need to learn to associate the consquenses of those actions with their own behavior. Too much crime is done without thought to who is impacted by it and this needs to change. Teaching children about responsibility needs to begin before they become criminals, but once they start committing violent crimes, the punishment should reflect the crime.

If a child can commit such an act of evil as in murder then they should also be able to handle going to jail. It also bothers me that these children that get a slap on the wrist are given the okay to do it again because they are taught nothing. It's like clearing the way for them to "practice" before they step on out into the world of being a seriel killer.

i so totally agree, feralcat. it shouldn't matter how old the kids who do these things are. they should to the same time as the adult offenders do. even if this was my kid who did these things - i still wouldn't complain. you reap what you sow, honey.

i say burn them all. but then i never really have much compassion for those who can barely be counted as human. lowly, degenerate life forms. erased they should be. removed and utterly destroyed, but then if we started there, wouldn't we have to give everyone the same treatment? think about who your leaders are.

I'm with you that if they are old enough to do these awful things then they should do the time. Too many kids are getting a way with too much now adays. Not enough punishment at home I guess.

Yeah I agree. That's crazy that the one guy got off cause he's not an adult.

the young offenders are not lineant,they are treated in some special prisons were all the works done by prisoners over 18 are done by these people also but with less work

it depends on what they do if they murder,rape,assult ect then they should do the time it does not matter what their age is.this is what is wrong with kids they give them a slap on the wrist so they think it is alright and it dont teach them a lesson so they should be punished like a adult is if they do the crime.no slap on the wrist for them.

Dont know

well i also do belive that they should be punished according to the level of crimes they commit.but sometimes young kids are forced into crimes either by their families or their so called friends.so i guess there has to be some investigation to find out the true culprit and punish that guy severly along with the children.

I agree with you.If a person or a teenager has thatmuch courage to kill any one then he should qualify for the corresponding punishment.Also because of this loop hole in the law there can be serious circumstances in which professional killers may use these young men for killing.Also because of this law youngesters have no fear of getting punishment which may turn to be dangerous.There should be some ammendement made to this law.

My personal view is also the same as yours. If you are old enough to do the crime, you are old enough to do the time, period. I don't care what crime it is. SO many people get off nowadays its not even funny.

My personal opinion is that if your old enough to do the crime, then your old enough to do the time. I don't think youths should be housed in the federal pens, but I do believe they should have some harsh consequences for their actions and then maybe it might keep some other young offenders from doing some of the brutal crimes that they sometimes engage in.

its critical question.in indian cities u can see many robbers are in age between 12 to 17,These peple are forced by a mafia to do robbery in public place.if u go into depth iu can find these teenage boys would have been kidnapped or bought by these mafia people and the force thse people to do robbory for their daily bread.

I quite agree with you. Perhaps the names should be witheld from the newspapers, since that is standard practice (and I don't agree with the way that the media is full of crime stories, anyway), but any crime should be punished appropriately, regardless of the age of the criminal. I completely agree that is someone is old enough to commit a crime, then they are also old enough to understand the severity of it and should be dealt with in exactly the same way, whether they are 10 or 80!

Such a horrible story. I think these young people should pay for what they did.They are so brutal. kill other poeple and urinate on their body. Even animals will not do things like that.

I agree...if the community continues to turn the other cheek, then all they are doing is giving the youngsters is practice for more brutal crimes.

That's awful. I completely agree with you, that such 'kids' should be punished as the adult criminals.