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  3. A recent newspaper article reports that a 14-year-old boy, who seriously dam

A recent newspaper article reports that a 14-year-old boy, who seriously dam

游客2024-01-09  67
问题     A recent newspaper article reports that a 14-year-old boy, who seriously damaged his school, got a punishment to clean streets instead of being sent to prison. Do you think young criminals should be sent to prison or should alternative forms of punishment be used? (2016-01-14)
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答案     Throughout history societies have concluded that there must be a balance between crime and punishment, and in some way, the punishment must fit the crime. However, the definition of ’to fit the crime’ has changed with modern emphasis on human rights and the idea that the criminal should be reformed and turned into a useful citizen. This is especially true for young criminals.
    Prison essentially deprives people of their liberty and is needed for those criminals who are a danger to society, but the punishment is loss of freedom, not necessarily other deprivations. The danger is that criminals in prison meet others and end up re-offending. Young criminals are very susceptible to influence and, ideally, it is better to help them change their ways. A 14-year-old convicted of serious damage, such as arson, and sent to prison will be marked for life and will almost certainly end up deprived of education. This will make it difficult for him to get a job and support himself. The boy in question was made to clean the streets. It does not say if this involved the humiliation of having to wear a uniform making it obvious that he was being punished, or how long he was required to do this. Certainly it would cost less than keeping him in prison. The work he did would be useful. Hopefully he would not enjoy it and it would persuade him not to reoffend.
    There is, however, an alternative point of view. Many children convicted of criminal offences come from poor homes where they have been badly treated, and they have fallen behind in school. Rather than just imprison them, ’tough love’ might help, where they are required to be disciplined, work hard, learn to read and write well, and sit school examinations, deal with problems such as drugs, alcohol and cope with relationship difficulties. This might take place in a secure school.
    Prison should be the last resort, and its emphasis, especially for young people, should be to prevent reoffending, by addressing whatever problem caused the original criminal behaviour.
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