Youth Criminal Justice Act Essay

512 Words3 Pages

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) was put in place to protect society and decrease the risk of crimes for young persons from ages 12 – 17. The Act, introduced on April 1st 2003, was brought in to enforce consequences for youth. The consequences were more relaxed than the previous act and they need to be made stronger, while continuing to recognize different consequences for different crimes. Methods of penalization should be used to direct the youth into adulthood and maturity. This also gives them the knowledge to know how problems or crimes are dealt with under the Act.

Before the Youth Criminal Justice Act children in conflict with the law were treated similar to adult criminals, often receiving harsh sentences for relatively minor …show more content…

If they think they can break the rule and get away with it, then how is that going to ever stop the youth from committing crimes. Perhaps, if their sentences were more intense they would think again about what they are doing before it is too late. I don 't think that anybody; adult or child should just be locked up. Though, they should also have opportunities while in jail to make a better life for themselves, otherwise they can sit in jail for the rest of their lives. It 's really their choice. If the youth of today wants to break the law; then they should be required to take whatever punishment they deserve, and be tried as adults. They are mature enough to know what’s relatively right and wrong. I think that partially the Act is promoting youth to commit crimes without having the slightest fear of consequences since there are no harsh sentences. Personally I think that if I were to commit a crime, I would be “we should be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime” – tony Blair (PICTUREQUOTES.com)
Overall, the YCJA gives youth several opportunities for rehabilitation but there should be a little more to the consequences. It holds Plans for reintegrating the young person back into his/her community after being in custody. “The criminal justice system for young persons must be separate from that of adults and emphasize the following: the court must hold the offender accountable only for the acts