by Isabel Chinan

Children’s charity Barnardo’s have released figures today which reveal the shocking number of children being wrongly imprisoned for non-serious offences.

The report showed that one-third of children aged between 12-14 were being locked up for crimes which were not seen as "grave-offences". As the law stands, children under the age of 14 should not be imprisoned unless their offences are considered to be serious. The Commons Justice Committee chairman, Sir Alan Beith claimed that “Custody does not work to reduce reoffending, and that it does not have a deterrent effect on young people, because their crimes are usually opportunistic and impulsive, so it is vital that effective alternatives are available."

Rehabilitation in this case sounds like it could be the more sensible and productive alternative when it comes to changing the mentality and lifestyle that these teenagers follow; however locking them in a prison cell seems to be the government’s answer when it comes to punishing young offenders.

There have been many news stories in the past which reflect the seriousness of offences committed by young people who have been rightly put into prison for getting involved with knife crime and committing murder.

On the other hand, for the young individuals who haven’t committed such serious crimes the argument is whether or not they should be rehabilitated instead of being locked away. It’s almost like the government is giving up on these troubled kids and believe that they will learn a lesson from being locked in a prison cell and going to a youth court to get a detention or training order for up to 24 months. Most of the time young people that commit crime live an unstable and unsteady life which reflects in their social behaviour. Therefore the missing link here is time, the more time you spend with a child trying to understand why they act the way they do, the more effective the results will be for making sure they have a happier future.