Saturday, July 14, 2007
I think that this programme is fulfilling and worth it, as I had learn many things like how the judge settle the different cases my friends and I had witnessed. Being given an opportunity to witness a confidential case is really very hard to come by, thus I enjoyed the pogramme.
At the start I really did not expect the 'kind' looking judge, to be such a ferocious person. The way she settled case by case was really unanticipated by me. The way she interrogated the juvenile and asked questions was simply...
After the court cases, we had a meeting with our dear judge.When we were all waiting for her arrival, i realised that we were all nervous, I guess that it was probably the judge's 'ferociousness' that we were afraid. When she arrived and started a dialogue with all of us and the teachers, we realised that she was not so bad after all!!
Through the discussion, I realised that the most common juvenile cases had got to do with smoking, vandalism, theft, underaged sex, rioting, fights etc.
These cases are not to be neglected as even holding a cigarette for someone is considered a crime, so I think everyone has to make sure they do the right thing and do not think that this example is just a small fly, which no one cares about.
Basically, there are many reasons to why these juveniles commit these crimes. Some of these reasons are peer influence, family problems, depression and many others. Starting with peer influence, many a times if students do not study enough to get good results, they ended up landing in a weak class of students where I think bad influence from the peers is high.
The peers of the juvenile will influence in any bad ways they can like smoking, shop theft, challenging the juvenile, gangfighting and others.
Secondly, family problems also come into the story. Normally the juveniles who presented in court, have very unstable family relations. I witnessed one juvenile's record which shows that even his parents are able to support the family, the communication between them are poor. The family quarelled often, the parents are gving in too much or else the parents are too strict, in the sense that they control the juvenile too much, making the juvenile think that his house is no longer a home to him/her, thus causing the juvenile to be defiant to elders, teachers, parents etc. Then the main problems which are theft, smoking etc. will come into the picture.
After the juvenile has been arrested, the juvenile is not sent to the juvenile court immediately. The juvenile's school will settle the problem with the police first, if the case is not so serious, the juvenile will be dealt with corporal punishment in school eg. caning, detention. Then they have to be on probation by the police, if the juvenile changes for the better, they will close the case, if the juvenile does not change, he or she will be sent to the court and face further interrogation. in the case where the juvenile had done a more serious case eg. a chain of shop lift case or a underaged sex case. the juvenile will be handed over to the police and the juvenile court magistrate. From there, the juvenile will be under supervision until the next session at the court. After that the court will decide wether the juvenile is changing or not, and then the 'verdict' or sentence for the juvenile will be revealed after a few sessions eg. home probation, Hostel/home probation, boy's/girl's home.
Heres a piece of advice, never do bad things or listen too much to your peers. Think about the consequences before you act, or else you will regret.
Qingle Labels: Juvenile Court reflections, pga, tms
