After sitting watching the news tonight I seen an article about how David Cameron wants high risk prisoners to be given support and education to help them turn their lives around. He claims that this will be a “Tough but intelligent” approach to make the prison system work, help offenders stop re-offending.
It’s clear to everyone that the prison system is not working and something does need to be done to tackle our over populated prisons. Is the answer not in the sentencing that is being administered instead of education I wonder though.
For the law abiding citizens of the United Kingdom who are living through this recession that the country is in very few can afford to go into education to better their job prospects. For that matter there’s very few that can get a job to pay for further education at the same time. In my opinion the education is being offered to the wrong area of the community entirely.
Mr Cameron went on to say “”We’ll never create a safer society unless we give people, especially young people, opportunities and chances away from crime.”. Yes Mr Cameron this is entirely true – however taking away the front line youth work in the areas where these young people grow up isn’t exactly giving them the opportunities to be educated and kept away from crime before they’ve even considered committing any is it?
I feel that his targets need to be shifted firstly by making prison seem more of a threat, don’t sit these prisoners down to give them education, get them doing the jobs of maintaining the prison gaining work experience and references to say that they’re willing workers and get sentences to be recognised as something to be feared.
Secondly if the young people are who you want to be educating and helping in the communities, educate them before they’re given the chance to offend, get better youth work provisions put into place especially in areas of deprivation, this will get the young people off the streets where they can be tempted into crime for something to do and give empower them that they can commit themselves to something worthwhile in their life.
It’s important for young people to realise what they’re capable of and what they are able to achieve at a young age, instead of having a label that they get judged over after spending time in a prison in my opinion.
mandzmagee 