Good Idea Or A Waste Of Tax Payer's Money?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/399133/Party-treats-for-Asbo-youths-costing-5-000

/// “At the end of a programme, they may go on a boat trip or be taken away for a residential trip which can be a couple of days away with youth workers to a little house near the seaside where they can have some fun. ///

[FredPuli43]

Kill or cure. That's the problem with young offenders. Most of them grow out of crime and anti-social behaviour, whether treated with kid gloves or locked up, it makes no difference; they simply reach a belated maturity by about 25.

These are 'asbo' cases. That does not mean we are dealing with serial rapists and the like. And it's at the end of a programme. If the programme works by retrain and reward, that's fine. After all , we train young bad dogs by reward, not punishment, so why shouldn't it work for these young animals ? :)

[Zeuhl]

Typical misrepresentation by the Daily W*nk headline writers

even their own body copy disagrees with them:

/Under the crime-busting plans, officials will target hotspots with a high rate of anti-social behaviour among youngsters./

So it will target youngsters in 'problem areas' - some 'asbo youths' may be included and may get a share of the £5000 budget but the programme (and the budget) is not exclusively devoted to them

And as for Robert Dryden 'former Cambridge mayor' what drugs is he on?

“the worry is that good kids may think they will be bad just to get a trip or a party or a treat"

Yeah, that happens all the time - the prisons are full of people who were good but started in crime in order to qualify for a trip to the seaside LOL

[FredPuli43]

Yes,Zeuhl, the headline is a little puzzling. Is that £5,000 each or £5,000 for boat trips or £5,000 for the whole scheme? The copy tries its best to create outrage, but if the best the paper can do is find some ex-mayor, it is sounding a bit desperate (I don't think I've heard of him, and don't remember his mayoralty if I have, Cambridge is my nearest town). The picking out of arsonists is a nice touch, though strictly correct. To the public, that suggests someone who burns down a house, factory or the like. It means criminal damage, however trivial, by means of fire and can be tried by magistrates. Setting light to the contents of a litter bin is arson. This is the kind of arson (and arsonist) in this case.

[FredPuli43]

Robert Dryden , Labour, was mayor of Cambridge in 2005-6 and again in 2006-7. There have been four former mayors since him.

[Zeuhl]

Interesting Fred

so the local politician with the most relevance that the Express could find was someone who was Mayor five 'mayorships' ago

is he Cambridge's answer to Limpd1ck Orbit?

[sebhfhion]

Some of these children come from desperate homes. Desperate in how they are treated and perceived by parents, something which I bet very few on here could even imagine. If by giving these kids a chance, a holiday,whatever, they can see outside of the box, outside of the rut that they feel is impossible to surmount, then if only one child breaks out its a success. It costs a lot more than £5000 to keep a child in a youth custody centre for even a few months.