I read an interesting letter in this month's magazine of the Magistrates' Association regarding the erosion of those taboos which once ordered society.
The letter, with which I wholly agree, makes the case that it is a lack of discipline and proper punishment that is to blame for much of our present day ills and it cannot be denied that since the end of the last war there as been a fundamental shift in our entire concept of discipline.
Corporal punishment has been abolished in schools, Capital Punishment has gone, parental punishment is bounded by guidelines that if not followed will result in either prosecution for assault or the removal of children from their parents, or both!
Child criminals are viewed as victims and Youth Courts hand out 'last chances' time and time again.
Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that 'punishment' has become a dirty word.
All aspects of our society are required to be 'child friendly' and children grow up without being able to discern right from wrong or to understand how to conduct themselves as responsible citizens, rather they are imbued from an early age with the view that they are entitled, as of right, to do as they will.
Two stark illustrations of this malaise were reported in a local newspaper.
25 year old Adam Smith, in a drunken frenzy, kicked a man almost to death leaving him severely brain damaged, unable to walk or talk.
This violent thug has a history of drunken violence dating back to his school years, including an assault last year when he knocked another man unconscious, for which he was only cautioned. He has never received the punishment he deserved in the past and this is the result.
In similar vain, 39 year old Wayne Moffitt kicked to death a 71 year old man and at the time of the attack Moffitt was subject to a Community Punishment Order for a previous assault, clearly insufficient to deter him from further violent action.
One can only speculate that if their upbringing had taught them right from wrong, upheld and reinforced by their teachers, and if the punishment for their earlier misdeeds had been more onerous, might they have learned how better to behave?
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