Should we bring back National Service to help with the ever growing prison population?

Question

Studies have shown that individuals who would normally/eventually end up as part of the ever growing prison population statistics would benefit immensly from a 'short sharp shock' treatment that a stint in the army would achieve. I think that 'Boot Camps' should be implemented to facilitate this. There are enough ex-squaddies out there who would jump at the chance of becoming a soldier again. Take 'Bad Lads Army' for example. All soldiers shown there are ex-squaddies. Boot camps would be cheaper to run as well in comparison of up to £1000 a week to keep a prisoner in prison. The end product could even produce good soldiers to properly join up. Although this 'short sharp shock' treatment would be given as a punishment, but as an alternative to a prison sentence.

Answer 1

Hell yes.....I have been a proponent to National Service for a long time. it would solve many probs to include the over-crowding in prisons. Leave prison for the severely violent offenders. Most are in prison for non violent offenses. Let them serve their country and makeup for their mistakes all at the same time.
It reduces the amount of money we spend daily on prisons and we get more disciplined men to use during situations like we have in the military today where we need guys to rotate in/out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Answer 2

My answer isn't probably going to be a popular one - apologies in advance.

Ok - yes, going to a boot camp would be more than suitable for yobs and those who display anti-sociable behaviour.

A National Service however; would just be taking it too far. I myself am an educated person and have spent my time after school in education - college, university and so on, for me and many others who have set goals in life, taking a year 'out' would be a big waste of time - I would detest nothing more than being told what to do by someone less educated than myself!

However, and this is a big however, if people don't pass there GCSEs or go on to further education, they then could be put into the National Service and contribute to our country in their own way - I predict that if this were to happen, the amount of people passing their GCSEs would crash through the roof and the amount of anti-social (chavs) would dwindle. I think that people need to see that different people can contribute to their country in different ways - for instance it would be foolish to have infantry soldiers working as nuclear physicists and vice versa - people should stick to what they're good at.

Answer 3

I can see that many people here believe national service is a good idea, yet these people apare generally older people, ie. not those who will take part in national service so its alright for them to say it.

National service may stop all the yobs and help the overcrowding in prisons, but it will cost the same to send these people to National service as it will to keep them in prison, thats a fact and you cant dispute it, but I think that if you mean National Service in the sense that those in prison do it then I think you could have a strong argument, but if you mean compulsory national service for school leavers then I am very against it because it can take up a year of your life, do little for you, and cost the government lots of money.

Answer 4

Yep, yep definately yes!!. Lets go one step further back though and reinstate a proper penalty for prisoners. How about hard labour?
I listened to a discussion yesterday, about the bent prison gaurds in the uk. It transpires that they turn a blind eye at best and actively bring in drugs and mobile phones at worst.
Heres my thoughts.
Why am I paying for this scum?
Where is the punishment?
I think its about time we used this array of manpower to make the country we live in a bit better again.
So chain the theives and junkies and killers and rapists together and get a few big bull gaurds with short shotguns on horseback to look at them and shout at them whilst they build my roads and tidy my country. Give them to civil and community projects and work them into the ground.
Heres a little fact for you to consider. In the UK there is no greater punishment than imprisonment. In prison you are fed, watered and cleaned, then educated for free and given the chance to learn from "real" criminals.
The reason that ALL of those people are there is because they are lazy. Too lazy to work so they take the easy way and steal. Now what would be a greater deterent to crime than serious, backbreaking honest HARD work?
Oh and to answer your original question, yes. But bring it back for school leavers as a way for them to give a little. It doesnt have to be boot camp. You could be a hospital worker or a parks and wildlife officer as well as the armed forces. But leave the real backbreaking stuff for the peodo's and burgurlars, yeh?

Answer 5

Absolutely for men and women, i think that after gcse's you should be made to go and do at least a year, also if you do not complete your gcse's i thin you should be made to stay until you have done that too, it will definately make britain a better place, probably help with yobs etc aswell, it might even help cut young mum's, spesh if they think they will still have to go do national service in the day and look after their kid at night!
Also that year would be valuable to help youths choose what to do with their lifes, they could spend the year bettering themselves physically and mentally and exploring areas of employement.
And on the question of it being cheaper, i think it would be more that people would not committ crimes so readily if they had already been taught discipline in the army.
But if they did break the law, they should do military style prisons, abnd rather than pay for everything for them, make them work, do the tedious jobs that we at the moment pay the 3rd world peanuts to do. Like sewing footballs for example.
Or make them do nothing all day but clean public places, it would be like the old days with the stocks, walking around the city centre shackled, peeling chewing gum off pavements would be ahuge deterent as it takes away their pride, spesh if a drill sergeant is shouting at them to do it faster!!!

Answer 6

Or we could just do the sensible thing, the majority of people in prison are reoffenders, so prison in the first instance didnt work, why could that be?!? Might it be the fact that when in prison they are better off than when at home? Free room and board, tv and dvd in room, playstation etc,etc. Prisons nowadays are more like Butlins Holidays Camps than a punishment, if the government where a lot more strict in prisons it would deter people from reoffending and going back in!! This is probably the only instance we should take a leaf out of the Americans book and GET TOUGH!!

Answer 7

I was a regular soldier during national service days. National Service ruined a lot of young mens lives. They did not want to be there, the services did not want them.
Why should the professionals in the services have to try and solve the problems created by other so called professionals.

Answer 8

National Service put people from different parts of the UK and different social backgrounds together. It gave many young men and women an excellent understanding of how other people live and think. It also gave them social skills, discipline and personal pride. It is sadly missed from our system. However, National Service should not mean Military service. Make everyone do it, definitely. Put them in camps, in uniform, and give them rigorous exercise and drill. But allow them to choose where they wanted to hone their skills. Many would benefit if National Servicemen and Women were used to make our streets cleaner, our old people's houses were decorated and an endless amount of socially required work was done. Equally, many might choose to serve in the Armed Forces, find they liked it and join up.

Answer 9

I am amazed at the level of reactionary spite in the answers so far.
Poor parenting and lack of education lead to bad behaviour.
Many of the inmates in prison are mentally ill and should be looked after properly. ( a failure of the 'care in the community' scheme).
The fact that the streets are dirty is because the people who use the streets are filthy. Who spits chewing gum on the pavement?
When you see someone throwing a cigarette end down, do you tell them to pick it up?
It seems that those in favour of national service think its all right for others.............

Answer 10

Definitely, prisoners get it far too easy, they are mollycoddled and some even live better in prison
Most of these criminals though would never be able to handle it, they are all big and brave on the outside, but put them through a bit of rough stuff and they turn into babbling babies.
If prison life was tougher, I believe it would halve the prisioner population.

Answer 11

I really do agree with you, perhaps because I am a little older and
can remember just, the and of National Service. I do think it taught possibly wild people how to control themselves and to have respect for other people and themselves. This I think is sadly missing today. I also think we have gone too soft this should start at home and in the schools. But in answer to your question this would be making good use of already trained resources and unburden the tax payer.