Thursday 29 March 2007

Children to be tested at school for criminal tendencies

News has come out over the past few days of a government proposal that school children will now be tested to see whether they are at risk of becoming criminals. This could include looking at behaviour in school as well as looking at home life.

"The children of prisoners, problem drug users and others at high risk of offending will also face being "actively managed" by social services and youth justice workers"

Despite the overall tone of this blog I am unsure of this new proposal. Should children be watched like a hawk by the start of primary school? Is this the nanny state gone mad? Will this be part of the new 11+ exam at the end of primary school - verbal reasoning, non verbal reasoning, and mummy and daddy's wrongdoings.

And what exactly are these at risk groups? Criminal parents? Single Parent families? Mental health issues? Would those convicted of white collar crimes such as tax evasion, embezzlement and fraud be included here as well?

I believe strongly in the self fulfilling prophecy - if you watch these children like a hawk and treat them this differently of course they are going to turn out badly. Let them go to school to learn, not to be spied on.

And on a final note, it is not only the so called high risk families whose children many or may not turn into delinquents. Under these guidlines would we have known that Mr Prime Minister's son would end up in a drunkened state lying in a gutter during a night of underage drinking?

For more information on these propsals:
Here is a link from The Guardian
and an article from The Telegraph

Tuesday 27 March 2007

Battling against ASBO Britain

This article from The Sun newspaper today talks of The RAFTA awards, also known as The Respect Awards For Taking A Stand.

These took place yesterday honouring those who took a stand against AntiSocial Behaviour.

It is refreshing to see people who aren't afraid to stand up to those others might find intimidating.

Monday 26 March 2007

Throwing Fireworks at Cars

And article from Hucknall Today tells of a boy who was throwing fireworks from rooftops and causing distress not only to drivers but church goers in his local area.


"He caused cars to swerve out of the way when he threw fireworks from the roof of a pub in the town, a court heard.
Sixteen-year-old George Swain also disrupted a service at the Christian Fellowship Church, which is near where he lives on Strelley Street.
He caused distress to worshippers by climbing to the top of the building, Nottingham Magistrates Court was told."


I'm not sure whether many of the readers of this blog are religious but I think this sort of behaviour around a place of worship has a different level of AntiSocial Behaviour.

Local residents are also being told to keep vigilant of Swain, in case he breaches the order that he agreed to. Whether this will actually happen is another thing because it is known that nowadays with this sort of behaviour, people are more likely to cross over the road rather than get involved.

ASBO boy caught breaching order

An article from the Wimbledon Guardian tells of a boy who will now be spending four months in a detention centre for breaching his ASBO

"A 15-year-old boy caught breaching his Antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) is spending time behind bars.

The youth from Mitcham was arrested after he was spotted by police riding a motorcycle from Galpins Road, Mitcham, on to Mitcham Common on February 21.

He was given a four-month detention order for driving while disqualified when he appeared at Wimbledon Youth Court on Thursday. Magistrates also gave him a six-month detention and training order for breaching his Asbo to run concurrently."

Sunday 25 March 2007

The ASBO as a Badge of Honour

When the ASBO was first introduced, the idea was that it would curb lower level crimes and anti-social behaviour. They work by providing the offender with restrictions specified in the other, for example not being out at certain times or in certain places.

A problem arose however when many youth offenders saw the ASBO as a Badge of Honour as shown on the BBC news website.
The orders were not being taken seriously as the government would have liked to, with large numbers of people breaching the orders that were given to them. Groups of friends believed that the ASBO would raise their street credibility, and those who did not have one felt "left out" according to these articles.

In my opinion the sheer amount of ASBOs that were given out were the reason that they became so trivial. The attitude of individuals towards these orders meant that when they given out the negative and cynical views lead to offenders also believing that they were meaningless. They are easy to breach because very little was done when they were breached. Naming and shaming brought attention. That is why they were seen as a badge of honour.

What is AntiSocial Behaviour?

At the moment in the UK, ASBOs are everywhere, being handed to a large number of people for the sole purpose of curbing Anti-Social Behaviour. What constitutes to Anti Social Behaviour can be found on this Crime reduction website.

"Anti-social behaviour has a wide legal definition – to paraphrase the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, it is behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator

Anti social behaviour can come in many forms, some more obvious than others. This blog has been created to document the ASBOs that have been handed out from the serious and worrying to the trivial. Information will primarily from news stories, as well as personal accounts from others who experience anti social behaviour.

For more information on what The ASBO actually is, here is an article from the BBC that provides a Q&A about Anti Social Behaviour Orders.