Letter: More between lines of suicide message
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Your editorial 'Suicide message to politicians' (30 August) highlighted two important points. One was that for 11 young people so far this year, a custodial sentence or period of remand in custody resulted in tragic death. The other was that recorded juvenile crime has fallen, not risen, in recent years. This needs to be reiterated and widely publicised.
Too often in this present climate of extreme hostility to young offenders, the facts have not been allowed to get in the way of the story - that there is an epidemic of youth crime. Perhaps it is easier to play on people's understandable fear of crime by labelling all young offenders as 'evil yobs' and demonising individuals by naming them 'Rat-boy' or 'Blip-boy', than to take a rational look at the extent of the problem and the policies necessary to address it.
Last week, the Central Statistical Office's report 'Social Focus on Children' revealed that fewer young people are committing offences. The number of known juvenile offenders fell by more than a third between 1981 and 1992. Perhaps these figures show that the reforms in dealing with juvenile offenders brought in by the Government in the 1980s, namely more cautioning, fewer young people locked up and more emphasis on diversion from crime, were successful.
Yours faithfully,
VIVIEN STERN
Director
Nacro
London, SW9
30 August
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments