Suseonline,
Yes I agree but your/our safety is rapidly being eroded by weak law enforcement.

Not sure if there is a newer version but the the 2012 edition of report mentioned in the article Lexi referenced can be found at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/facts/1-20/2012.html

I've not read this edition but noted from the article that age 17 was the peak age. Whilst the links to underage drinking and changed family structures make some sense the change in legal response to crimes committed after 18 are probably worth a mention.

It's a rare teenager with an inclination to do the wrong thing who is not aware that up until 18 they operate in a protected zone where it's unlikely the consequences of crime will be serious in a short term sense. They may be setting themselves up for some long term problems but teenage brains don't do well at evaluating long term consequences.

Our struggle seems to be in finding a working balance for dealing with crimes committed by those who are old enough to understand most of what they are doing but not yet adult. I don't want solutions that harden them up for more crime, that force them into even closer proximity with other law breakers. Nor do I want a continuation of the sense that where there is a problem the victims are largely defenceless and with little chance that the law can intervene effectively.

Whilst I think some are just a little to enamoured with smacking I think in a broader sense there is a good case to say that a lot of parents feel unreasonably constrained by the state when it comes to correcting a seriously defiant child and no I don't accept that the defiance is always a consequence of that parents poor parenting.

I think it's worth noting that in my experience threads about smacking seem to attract a lot of interest, threads on options for parents to discipline children that are not about smacking attract little interest.

R0bert

There's an interesting article in the New York
Times that might be worth a look - by Gary Scott.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/05/when-to-punish-a-young-offender-and-when-to-rehabilitate

Scott's feel that prison is too violent for young offenders.
He himself having been incarcerated at a young age.

What can one expect where fatherless families have become the norm and the institutions of marriage and family have been spurned?

But Hell will freeze over before the architects of the very broad and deep social changes will admit fault for the unintended consequences of their infernal endless dabbling.

The UK has had similar social policies and the same consequences. For a quick omparison, Japan seems almost immune. But comparisons are not necessary, the evidence is there in abundance from government stats.

There have been articles posted on OLO on the subject. Hopefully there will be many more.

A regards an individual's right to defend his/her life and limb, NSW citizens have the benefit of law introduced by the Shooters and Fishers Party (S&FP) that puts the onus on the offender and police to prove that the victim of assault in his home was not actually in fear of her/his life or harm when acting to defend himself against the assailant/home invader.

As recent NSW cases have shown, that does not prevent the tabloid media from victimising the victim further by negatively portraying and hounding him (the media even publised Google Earth maps and photos of a male victim's home), and police may still subject the victim to criminal-like interrogation, charges and threats (which would almost certainly assure further harm to the victim).

It is vastly better for NSW residents though than for the luckless residents of other States where the onus is on the VICTIM to PROVE he was in fear of harm and that he used 'reasonable' force. That includes your house pooch as well.

Lexi,
<It shows that teenagers are the most violent Australians and gives
some plausible reasons for their behavior.>
What it doesn't show that the bigger percentage of these thugs are4 of foreign extract or indigenous.
Lock them up like the animals they really are.

Lexi, don't worry, I will keep speaking my mind, but thanks for the wise words.
Onthebeach, I loved the 'Faulty Towers' clip, thanks for that !
Sybil and her acid tongue was always one of my favourites...

Individual, I would hate to be in charge of your 'national service' guys.
A large group of actual and potential young criminals forced to be somewhere they don't want to be. Sounds like jail or conscription into the armed forces.

If they weren't aggressive or violent before they went into the 'service', they sure would be afterwards.