Young offenders | GTAMotorcycle.com

Young offenders

nobbie48

Well-known member
Site Supporter
If I understand it correctly the young offenders act addresses the differences between simply knowing that an action is wrong and understanding the full consequences of that action.

A ten year old knows it's wrong to hit someone in the head with a hammer but wouldn't likely understand the mental trauma the victim goes through, the effect on the fabric of society etc etc. Apparently according to the YA act, that understanding starts in the late teens. Some say mid twenties.

However does the over-application of the YA act push up the age of responsibility?

In the good old days down on the multi-generational farm kids saw grandparents get sick and die, animals get slaughtered, crops fail and the farm lost. The school bus didn't wait for you. If you were late you walked the five miles. Tough luck but you made it for yourself.

Maybe a little less sheltering would be a good thing.

My rant of the day.
 
Can one use anybody but themselves as a gauge? What did you think when you were 10? Any 10 year old that doesn't understand the full impact of a hammer to the skull doesn't have an age related cognitive issue, they are truly mentally defected. You can test this out by threatening to smash them in the head with a hammer. If they react negatively then they know it's not good. If they're ho hum about the threat they either don't believe it or are mentally defected.
 
I guess the good old "boys will be boys" cant be used anymore
 
^^^^^^^

bad analogy.....most 10 year old's still think they are some sort of super hero and nothing will hurt them........LOL

batman superman, etc....

Like I said, use yourself as a gauge. Did you know right from wrong at 10? Did you understand doing physical harm to others in the context of treat others the way you want to be treated?
 
In the good old days you were also less likely to face legal consequences for such behavior in the first place. Minimum sentences are longer, fines are higher. Not to mention that there is a whole bunch of wire fraud and computer crimes that many adults barely understand as criminal activity, let alone kids.

I don't think the idea behind the young offender's act is that they understand it less, it's just a final chance so whatever stupid thing they get charged with doesn't **** up the rest of their entire life
 
^^^^^^^

bad analogy.....most 10 year old's still think they are some sort of super hero and nothing will hurt them........LOL

batman superman, etc....

After just one hit with that hammer, Im sure they would change their minds about being super hero's

Being mentally ill is even better off for you, you spend a little time in the nut house, deem you not criminally responsible, put you on meds. Then they put you through school, find you a place to live, and find you a job, and let you back into society, all at the expense of tax payers money....And were just supposed to go on believing that because they are now medicated it wont happen again
 
Had my car broken into and the wee punks got caught in possession of couple of ipods that were mine. Dummy not smart enough to wipe it before he tried to hock it.

He lived down the road, about 3 kms away in a "youth" house. When the police came to take my statement they tried to talk me out of pressing charges. Seems the teenager was already in trouble (ya think? Obviously or he wouldn't be living there) and by my formal charges it "may hurt him in the future"....

Kids now have no idea what kind of whooping you would have gotten 30 years ago had someone tried to pull that **** in my family.

My girlfriend got caught when we were tweens with a stolen lipstick. Her father grounded her (and probably smacked her) and made her pay it back. For each day she had the lipstick and hadn't gotten caught. Lipstick was $2.99, and she had to pay that for each of the 22 days she had it in her possession. Expensive lesson, esp when you only make 2/hr babysitting.
 
Princess's Man says: OP, true that the criminal law (YCJA) doesn't apply to those under 12. However, that doesn't mean the child (11-years or younger) gets off scott free. There are provincial statutes that can apply such as the Child and Family Services Act.

If the incident is serious enough, regardless of age, the Crown can remove the child from his/her home, force the child to under go psychiatric treatment, assign a social worker, etc. And, in terms of civil litigation, there's nothing barring someone from bringing forward a lawsuit against the child and his/her parents.

There are still consequences at any age.
 
Last edited:
There are consequences, I'd like to know the percentage of young offenders that become grownup offenders. I do agree somewhat that there is often room to help some youth that for whatever reason aren't fully able to think through their actions, that fact remains that some kids are just stupid and rotten and its hard to sort out which kid is what.
 
At 10, I fully knew what a hammer to the head would do. Hell, I probably knew when I was less than 5. I've been nearly blinded 2x when I was under 6yrs old. I have a scar just under my right eye & a scar inside the eyelids of my left eye. However, those are going away nicely because its 3 decades ago. Come to think about it, I had a pretty traumatic childhood. I've almost nearly bled out 2x while under 10. Then again this probably taught me what is really dangerous & what could end up getting you killed.

Those sheltered too much would never understand how dangerous their actions can be or how painful it could be. Sometimes pain can be a really good teacher.
 
The problem with hitting a 10 year old in the head is that we can't do it to every 10 year old, saying this is what it feels like so don't you ever do it to someone else. However if the 10 year old kids were not sheltered from reality by grief councillors and rationalization but rather they saw crap happen and they had to face it, would they mature faster?

Conscience also comes into it. If a person has a conscience they will hopefully improve with age. If a person doesn't have a conscience is there any hope?
 
Compulsory military service. Not for those too young obviously, but discipline and respect are trickle down items.
 
Bring back corporal punishment
 
12-17 is pushing it.

A 12 year old and 17 are a world apart. I'd say keep it but make it from 12-14 max. If at 14 you don't know that stabbing someone has consequences you're better off in prison.
 
From a different forum and one of the better outcomes of being open minded. The devil's advocate would say "But how many would say Whew, got away with it again."

"I had a similar incident happen to me,some years ago,with my first '84 1200.
I had just finished rubbing it out from a repaint,after some teens vandalized it($3900,in damages,and I had it less than a month!),and I took it to my insurance agent,to show him(got 2 paint jobs out of it),and headed home on US27 Southbound.
The left saddlebag top came off,and skidded against the curb,so I pulled into a pull-off area,and walked back to get it.
I was almost to it when a car did the same thing your man in the truck did. EXCEPT.....The Michigan State Police trooper saw him swerve,and pulled him over. He was arrested for attempted vehicular assault...a felony .
He didn't hit the bag lid,and I was able to buff out the scratches,but I had to testify in court.
Now,...Here's the weird part. I listened to all the testimony,and the Prosecutor telling the court he should go to prison,for the full 3 years,.............. and I asked the judge if I could address the court. When he said yes, I asked the Judge if I could find out WHY he did it,and set the sentence according to his answer.
It was allowed,and the young man's answer was " It was a STUPID impulse!"
The young man was only 19,and we all agreed a 3 year sentence would ruin him. He plead to a lesser charge,of reckless endangerment,paid a fine,and left.
5 yrs later, I was honored to see him graduate from the State Police Training Academy ,in Lansing.
His father,Mother,and he are some of my family's best friends to this day."
__________________
 
I'd say give the option of charging as an adult at 16.
 
Bring back beating your children! I don't know about you guys but even if I got caught doing something at that age, and got off with a slap on the wrist. I got a beating when I got home either way, and that taught me either don't do it, or at least don't get caught. Used to have a huge birch tree in the front yard, when I saw my dad pulling a branch off and stripping the leaves off of it, it was time to run and try to hide. When I was a kid I stole a Vanilla Ice cassette from Kmart and got caught, no charges but I got a beating when I got home, never got caught stealing again....Ice Ice baby!
 
Last edited:
Bring back beating your children! I don't know about you guys but even if I got caught doing something at that age, and got off with a slap on the wrist. I got a beating when I got home either way, and that taught me either don't do it, or at least don't get caught. Used to have a huge birch tree in the front yard, when I saw my dad pulling a branch off and stripping the leaves off of it, it was time to run and try to hide. When I was a kid I stole a Vanilla Ice cassette from Kmart and got caught, no charges but I got a beating when I got home, never got caught stealing again....Ice Ice baby!

You deserved a beating just for listening to Vanilla Ice lol
 

Back
Top Bottom