The dilemma of an increasingly incompetent work force, homeless people, ignorant policy makers, ignorant authorities, useless or rather pointless bureaucrats etc. etc. would unquestionably be curbed by the introduction of a National (not military) Service. Teachers should have to spend a minimum of two years in the real world before getting anywhere near a class room. Employers would be far more inclined to hire young people who had prior exposure to responsibility. Homeless youths at least gain an understanding that a sense of responsibility would very likely keep them off the streets. The whole country would benefit from a more responsible Public Service. Law & Order would be less of an issue. The list of benefits just goes on. We have 35 years of evidence that the absence of National Service has a negative effect on society. What have young people to lose by two years of learning responsibility ? We can't continue to hope for technology to solve our problems.

Homeless youths are there because they're irresponsible?. Where does mental health, child abuse, and drug addiction fit into this little synopsis?.

Obama wants a citizen army just as strong just as powerful as the professional military.This is a way of subjuating the masses under the threat of economic breakdown.They are pushing for wars as a solution to economic woes,get more control of us and the expand the empire.It is pure facism.It is the same scenario over and over again that gave us the two world wars.We are just too stupid to realise it.

Tell them to stick their national service where the sun don't shine.It is a oligarchical ruse to give more power to the few.

Homeless youths are there because they're irresponsible?
Stg,
no, they're there because they don't have enough sense of responsibility. Irresponsibility is something peculiar to academics & bureaucrats & do-gooders. i.e. people who should have to do National Service to lessen the burden of their incompetence & uselessness on the rest of us taxpayers.

Homeless youths are there because they're irresponsible?. Where does mental health, child abuse, and drug addiction fit into this little synopsis?.

As I have said before, we are all provided with an equal oportunity to fail. Hiding behind some excuse just doesn't cut the mustard for me i'm affraid. We can all find something in our past that was disturbing.

If NS was to rid our shopping malls and parks of unrully youth, then I'm all for giving it a go.

After all, what's happening now clearly isn't working, so why not try.

I don't like the idea of national service:
(which I assume as either volunteer work, 'employed' jobs, military or peace corps/aid work).

1- it forces many young people, who may have already been well disciplined to waste a few months/years of their life really just putting in a token effort- especially bad if they were actually planning some kind of business enterprise (and many do from a young age). It would be like forcing everyone to go to JAIL for a few months just so they know what it's like.

2- It is highly dubious that some arbitrarily-assigned services will be particularly guaranteed to provide an improved outlook on life- let alone become 'the real world' (what does that even mean? What's so 'not-real' about the day-to-day life the average Australian lives?)

3- Conscripts forced into their position against their will tend not to work as seriously as proper employees or volunteers who actually elected to do the service. This might not be so bad for building up 'volunteer' numbers and cheap labor (illegal), but if this topic WERE specifically about military/security or peacekeeping/aid/assistance it's a poor assignment indeed- especially if our real personnel had to rely on their help.

4- Did I mention human/civil rights?

All because of a tiny minority of troubled youth (even look at the statistics- youth crime rates are low- youth RE-OFFENSE rates TINY).