BY KEITH LACEY
Passing any law that would make children as young as age 10 responsible for criminal behaviour is misguided and based on fear mongering of the worst kind.
Those words from John Rimore, executive director of the John Howard Society, the organization mandated to assist men in trouble with the law.
Last week, Justice Minister Vic Toews suggested the federal Progessive Conservatives were considering legislation that would lower the age of criminal responsibility to age 10.
The changes to the law would not necessarily place children this young in custody, but make them face much more stringent rehabilitation programs and counselling, said Toews.
“They’ve (federal Tories) been talking about this for years and when I read this I thought to myself ‘my God, what is going on’,” said Rimore. “I thought they can’t be serious, but apparently they are.”
Young children involved in criminal activity are in serious need of social service support, not criminal justice support.
“The criminal justice system cannot and was never meant to solve the social and emotional problems of children or address what prompts the criminal activity of children this age who do get in trouble with the law,” he said.
“We can’t as a society continue to ask the criminal justice system to solve our society’s problems and then condemn people when their problems are not solved by the courts or incarceration.”
Restorative justice advocate Pam Radunsky is also upset at proposed changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act and believes it’s a giant step in the wrong direction.
“When dealing with children this age we must ask if they know the consequences of their actions and I can honestly say most this age don’t,” she said.
If a young person age 10 shows he or she is capable of serious criminal acts, counselling has proven much more effective as treatment and reducing recidivism rates, she said.
Restorative justice statistics show early intervention with young offenders, where they are made to realize how much damage their criminal acts have on victims, is working, she said.
Rimore concurs saying numerous accredited studies clearly indicate social service support for children in trouble with the law and their families, and not criminal justice intervention, has proven effective in changing negative behaviour in pre-teen children.
Making teens accountable for their actions is supported by social workers and the John Howard Society, but having them fingerprinted and treated as criminals is not the way to go, he said.
“We encourage the federal government to speak with us and other organizations who deal with children before they single-handedly change a law that will cause more problems, not less,” he said.
Any child this age who does commit a serious criminal act is almost always suffering from serious emotional or psychological issues, Rimore said, which should be addressed before considering arresting them or placing them in custody.
“This is not a TV show we’re talking about here, but the future of many, many Canadian children who will be negatively affected by a misguided attempt to appease people who somehow think there are all kinds of 10-year-olds out there committing serious crimes, when that’s not the case at all.”
Many of the same people who might support such a change to the law would change their minds if their young son or daughter had a momentary lapse in judgement and committed a criminal act, said Rimore.
