Our Criminal Justice System - It's Criminal! Part 3

Trust In Education: Real crime costs all of us considerably. If you have ever been a victim of such you would agree that there is always a significant degree of inconvenience as well as both a financial and an emotional cost. It is surely, therefore, crucial for us to do our utmost to reduce crime and get the criminals off the street, either by locking them up, or ideally by educating and persuading them not to be criminals in the first place. If we imagine the concept of Heaven, we can understand why only good people would be allowed in; because otherwise it would get contaminated and lower the tone and our quality of being. It is amazing how many people grow up thinking it is acceptable behaviour to lie and to cheat when it suits them and yet trust is all important. People that can't be trusted are bad news and they will inevitably cause problems for others. Therefore it is important to stress to all people from an early age the importance of trust and the importance of being able to be trusted in the hope that we may all learn this lesson sooner rather than later! Our society and our planet may be somewhat short of Heaven in principle but the more of us that understand this, the better it will become.

A Stitch In Crime: Trust and moral education, i.e. how to be a decent human being, is as important as sex education, drug education, learning how to cook a decent meal, and take your litter home. This is basic life management training and yet such things often get overlooked in favour of things like calculus. Understanding calculus won’t do much for most people in this life but basic life management abilities are essential for everyone and can make a massive difference to where we end up in life. As with many things, a stitch in time, and in some cases a stitch in crime, can help reduce undesirable activity significantly, thereby saving potential victims and finances. Let’s not forget also that a criminal is a victim of our failure to set a good example and bring up our young accordingly. Young people have enough to contend with in this world as it is, with the absolutely disgusting example set by those in charge. It is very easy to look at those selfish undesirables and what they do and think you may as well join them. Consequently they may well end up with a life beyond repair and scars on the soul that may never heal! It is better to look forward with relish than back with regret!

Punishment And Reward: I am very much in favour of education and moral education and I am all for giving people a chance. However, just with other animals in this world such as your pet dog, sometimes when you try and talk to them and reason with them, they stare at you with a blank and bemused expression on their faces, for they just cannot quite understand where you're coming from. Consequently, you have to resort to punishment and reward to train your dog, because to begin with, it is the only way. Criminals are in fact like dogs in many ways, with just about as much understanding and moral fibre at times. They will tear into a piece of meat given the opportunity without a second thought for any other dog. Steal the bacon, yes they will, if given the chance. They know what they've done but it seems they just cannot override that temptation. I can understand a dog choosing to behave like a dog, because after all, it is a dog, so it is excused. However, human beings that choose to behave like dogs, that is a different kettle of, well, dogs. And there is NO excuse. Criminals do because they think they can get away with it or get off lightly and they don’t care. The trick is to get that to change!

All In The Training: Just like us, dogs are one of nature’s paradoxes. They can be extremely loving, faithful and loyal on the one hand and, well, dogs on the other. They can be subject to temptation and steal the bacon without hesitation. They can also withstand the waft of bacon right under the nose and refrain from wolfing it down until they get the command and are told it is ok to do so. The difference in the dog is all in the training. That is the upbringing and the education. Therefore, in the interests of crime prevention, I reiterate, we cannot underestimate the importance of introducing preventative techniques in education at school level. We can’t always rely on the parents to do so!