I had the dubious honour today of having apparently produced the best piece of tabloid journalism from a ramshackled broadsheet story we were all given. Huzah for bastardisation.
Lock up your daughters (and sons)
Our prisons are overflowing…with children. And while we can all nod sagely and blame the parents, they aren’t the ones that have to do hard time.
For every 100, 000 kids in Britain, 23 will end up in the slammer. In France, it’s six. Spain a mere 2. Custody has doubled in the past decade, despite youth crime having fallen.
Many experts agree that locking up young offenders is both expensive and ineffective. The YJB (Youth Justice Board) spends almost £280 million of the taxpayer’s money each year on detention. Ironic, considering that surveys show nearly 80% of children released re-offend within that year.
As former Home Secretary David Waddington put it, “Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worst”
Youth crime came into the lime light in the 1990’s “Condemn a little more and understand a little less” urged then Prime Minister John Major. Opposing parties battled with each other to show the public which of them was tougher on youth crime. And as always when adults fight, it’s the children that lose out.
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