Denmark has lowered the age of criminal responsibility

Press-release posted on facebook:

Recently the Danish parliament voted to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 years of age. They did that while Denmark continues to fail to honor the conventions of the right of a child because they detain minors in the same prison as adults whenever the juvenile detentions are overbooked.

Now it turns out that they in fact did lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 but the denied the children aged 12 and 13 to legal aid because they have made it an administrative decision whether a child of this age should wear an ankle monitor to ensure that the child will remain at home outside school.

We find it awful that a country like Denmark which in other situations work to spread the use of democracy would teach the future voters that they are not considered human enough to qualify for legal aid.

We are fully aware that the core of the Danish problem with juvenile crime is that residential treatment is an enormous burden for the budget in the social sector. It is so huge a burden that all minors know that they are more likely to avoid consequences of their crime if they commit it late in a budget year.

But the answer is not to use the courts to enforce treatment of what is basically a social problem. The bill will end up at the social sector regardless of who will take the decision.

The answer must come from the social sector itself. They must remove the standard approach which is to maintain a reluctant approach with the individual case until residential treatment cannot be avoided. A focus on local treatment options would lower the total costs.

An ankle monitor cannot provide counseling. An ankle monitor will not be a consequence for a child committing a crime if it is put on without letting the child go through the proper legal process where it is confronted with the victims of the crime so the child is given time to reflect on the actions which led to the legal process.

We must urge that Denmark revoke this decision and find a method to lower the cost in the social sector with other treatment methods and a strategy based on local and early intervention.

References:

Kriminel lavalder sænket til 12 år? - blog entry in Denmark by Birthe1951

China not ready to cancel the killings of teenagers

It is with great regret that we learned today that a group of teenagers were returned to one of the so-called "Internet Addiction Boot Camp" where they were supposed to be treated for an addiction not even recognized as an illness yet.

Maybe it will be officially recognized in 2013 when the DSM-V will be released.

Teenagers are dying in China because their parents who wer raised in a totally different society don't understand that their career might be involve computers in a degree unknown by their heritage.

Based on fear rather than knowledge they choose a number of unproven treatment methods.

While the government in China has banned all the existing known treatment of this supposed uncharted illness, they have difficulties controlling the market based on fear.

We must urge the government of China to prevent further deaths by closing such camps.

References:
Police nab teens escaping Net boot camp, By Wang Xiang, Shanghai Daily News, June 7, 2010
China bans physical punishment for Internet addicts, Reuters, November 9, 2009
Ministry halts controversial electrotherapy program for Internet addicts, China Daily, July 14, 2009
Student beaten to death at boot camp, Global Times, August 4, 2009
Payout over teen's boot camp tragedy, China Daily, August 24, 2009

Do you know about the concept of a youth transport firm?

Most teenagers in the United States may grow up to adulthood without ever knowing what such a firm does for a living.

However those who do never stop dreaming of them. There might be weeks between them, even months but then the nightmare resurface once more.

The place where you as a teenager should feel safe never became the same. This one night your parent woke you telling you that you are no longer a part of your family. That you have violated the house rules so severe that you have to be removed from your home.

You are sleepy and don’t quite understand what your father or mother is telling you, but suddenly you notice two goons in the room. You understand that there is no turning back. You are disposed of like the leftovers from yesterday’s meal.

Your parent disappears almost running out of the room. You don’t know it at that point but it is part of a well-rehearsed act. Your parent has a script to work from, which they have received from the transport firm.

Once your parent is away you are ordered out of the bed. Once dressed most firms have a policy that the transport good must be in some forms of restraint. Not entire woken and understanding what is going most teenagers find themselves driving away what was once their childhood.

When various message boards discussed what to do in order to avoid being taken to the car, it was the golden 30 seconds between the parent leaving the room and the transport good being order out the bed, where the transport good must use self-defense.

But is it possible to make teenagers aware that they in advance must arm themselves?

That their parents suddenly would reverse child protection rule number one that every single parent on this planet state: “Never walk with a stranger”?

It is hard to imaging.

References:
WANT YOUR KID TO DISAPPEAR?, by Nadya Labi, Legal Affairs, July 2004
Teen Escort Company, Secret prison for teens datasheet