The Scottish headlines have been dominated by calls from MSP Helen Eadie to "eliminate children under 15 completely from the streets at night". She wants "zero tolerance".
The Labour MSP from Dunfermline East recently visited Cowdenbeath, in her constituency, to address the issue of anti-social behaviour...but when she got there her car was surrounded by "hoodies" and was rocked and damaged. Yes, this must have been a scary experience but is condemning ALL under 15s (the majority of whom are law abiding) to house arrest really the solution?
In the adult world, similar measures would never even be considered. For example, a minority of adults commit crimes like theft...could we show 'zero tolerance' and stick ALL adults in jail to prevent it from persisitently happening? I think not.
Condemning all kids to curfew as kneejerk reaction to her own scary experience is proposterous and penalises all the law abiding children who should be entitled to freedom at night, right?
2006-11-02
21:05:47
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16 answers
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asked by
Les
3
in
Law & Ethics