Where has childhood gone? (Young Offenders - What Should The Law Do With Them?)

Member Name: the-crazii-one-x

Product:	Young Offenders - What Should The Law Do With Them?
Date:	28/07/09 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Too Many

Young offenders. Anti social behaviour. What has happened to the youth of our time?

Vandalism, theft, intimidation, drunken behaviour, fighting and even murdering, no wonder young people are seen negatively! There always seems to be a new crime committed by young people on the front of a newspaper, and it's at a point where nobody is sure what to do about it. Innocent young people are being murdered, and old, vulnerable people are being frightened to even go out after about 5pm! Children can't play out in the streets with their neighbours without the threat of gangs and violence, and parents are constantly worried about their children's safety.

But not all children are criminals, and it's not fair to them, they should be able to have a normal, safe, carefree childhood. Children's depression in the UK has been growing throughout the last few years, and it's no wonder why! Innocent children are intimidated, worried, and feeling unsafe because of anti social behaviour, the negative media doesn't help.

Anti social behaviour is much more damaging than these children can see, they wouldn't care about the damage done unless it had happened to them. How can children go around committing cold blooded murder without a trace of a guilty conscience?

We can't put one reason down why all of these criminals do what they do, there are too many, but three words that always seem to come up during this discussion is "blame the parents". I agree with this, but only to a certain extent. Just a few other reasons that come from the top of my head are broken families; feeling unloved, peer pressure, wanting to impress, to fit in, or just for a sense of adventure. A history of family crime also plays a big part in young crime, if young children look up to their older siblings and see that this is how they act, they will automatically want to be like them.

Maybe one step could be too help children with broken families, help them feel like they are supported. I think teaching children about crime and consequences from an earlier age would be useful, as at the moment, only 11-14 year olds are taught.

The police have tried to handle anti social behaviour many times before, and not all of these techniques were successful in some places. ASBOs, the Mosquito and the dispersal of group are the three main methods.

An ASBO is an Anti-Social Behaviour Order which is basically what the title suggests, an order for children who have acted in an anti social way. An ASBO covers a number of different problems including vandalism and criminal damage, noisiness, shoplifting, drunken behaviour, spitting, fighting, and intimidation. ASBOs can be given to anyone over 1o, and can last for up to 10 years. They forbid offenders from doing certain things, depending on why they got the ASBO. However this hasn't worked because ASBOs are now seen as badges of honour in gangs.

The Mosquito was an ultrasonic device which made offenders leave a certain place with its high-pitched whine. It was supposed to only be heard by under 25s, but some people who were over25 could still hear it so it was unfair. The mosquito was also criticised because the Children's Commissioner had claimed it infringed children's rights.

The dispersal of groups is the method that gives the police the power to split up gangs hanging about on streets after a certain time (normally around 7) in certain places. The reason this wasn't successful was because the gangs that were split up just met up again in other places.

So if these methods haven't worked, why would any other? It's hard to try and find a solution which will be fail proof, and as the number of crimes committed by young people grows, we are becoming more desperate for a solution.

In some ways I do think the punishment should be harsher, why should they get away with crimes so devastating? But on the other hand, children are growing up and still make mistakes. But then again, they are old enough to know right from wrong.

But I honestly could argue both points for hours and still not be able to pick a side. So alls I can say to end this review is that we need to find a solution - fast.

Summary: we need a solution.