For many years now, but more recently, young offenders has become a hot topic, not only on the news, but in our own households, and I often find myself having heated discussions with my wife about it. My argument is that things cant be getting any better, as you are always hearing on the news about murders occuring, usually in places like London, and most of the time, they are being committed by people under the age of 18. My main question is, what has happened to not only our country, but our legal system, in has just collapsed, there is no justice any more. Where I live, up north, there are a lot of crimes being commited by young people, and I am not just talking about murders, but theft, and assault. A decade ago, you didnt hear of such things, but thats progress for you.

One of the main points of discussion these days is how to punish these offenders, and in my opinion, the courts shouldnt be less harsh on them just because of their age. I think that if they are old enough to do the crime, then they are old enough to do the time. It isnt just the punishment that we need to think about, but how we should try and deter these young people from offending in the first place. Nowdays, they may get a shortened sentence, or in some cases, no sentence at all, which isnt setting a very good example to follow. No one is safe anymore, and my mother is scared to just walk down to the shop, only down the road, after a certain time. Why must she, it is a disgrace. Why is it that peopleing are killing others, and I cant understand why children, because that is what they are, are killing children. They grow up in a society where they think that if they commit a crime, they will be let of because of there age, even getting an ASBO these days in seen as some form of certificate that they should be proud of.

Something needs to be done. NOW.