Crowd protests court penalties?More than 100 people have protested outside the Cobar courthouse, in central-west New South Wales yesterday, angry that there are not tougher penalties for repeat offenders.
[But tougher penalties just means more recidivism and that means more crime.]
Police travelled four hours from Dubbo to top up local police numbers, in order to protect the court's magistrate.
[If police need to protect the court's magistrate what does that say about the social skills in the wider community? No wonder they have a crime problem when their peers don't know how to behave. How could those people lead by example? They obviously haven't got the skills.]
Yesterday's protest follows a recent meeting between the mayors of Cobar, Bourke and Brewarrina, and the Premier's sentencing committee.
Cobar mayor Lilliane Brady says people who commit crimes should be punished, and she says the 100 protesters have all been victims of crime.
"It wasn't given very much publicity, certainly a lot of people in Cobar didn't know," she said.
"We more or less wanted the victims, and so we were counting on the victims and other people who had been broken into, so we were quite pleased with the result."
[The punishment is the crime for a world without violence.]
By Lack of Knowledge 17 July 03
THE JUDGE: When people commit crimes it is because they have taken more risks and used more resources in order to achieve their goals. Their goals are just like yours and mine but we achieve our goals without going to jail to be punished because we have hopefully, more social skills.
Discipline, threats, and punishment gets bad, short-term results, Ms Brady. If you do punish them then they will be more likely to punish you back.
Pavlovs theory of classical conditioning: Its time for dialogue Ms Brady? How do we address offending behaviour in accordance with the current literature? "By inviting the victim and the offender into the decision making process".
Thomas Gordon PHD: Why? A) You get more information. B) You get an obligation by the offender to change his/her offending behaviour. Perhaps you need some social skills, Ms Brady? Do you punish your children, family and friends when they make a mistake? When are social skills going to be taught in schools, because some parents failed to get them to pass onto the children, that they are raising? What do we want? Social Skills in the school curriculum! When do we want them? Now!
Related:
NSW Calls for Brogden curfew
The citizens of New South Wales are calling for a curfew on outrages statements made by John Brogden about stealing children away from their parents.
Brogden backs Dubbo's Radio host's hard line on children
NSW Citizens are calling for NSW Liberal leader, John Brogden, to step down after aligning himself with a shock jock petition calling for children involved in crime in Dubbo to be removed from their parents.
Zero Tolerance for Families
A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.
States to cooperate on school curriculums but social skills don't rate?
State and territory education ministers say Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's heavy-handed threats to school funding will not assist their ambitious initiative to develop consistent school curriculum’s in key subjects. [?]
School Curriculum needs balance? Life Skills and Academic Skills go hand in hand man Colin you need to be the students friends not their judge. Only when you can invite the students into the decision making process will you get an obligation by them to change their behaviour, because you Colin could lead by example and not by power.
NSW education professor warns further commitment needed
The author of a report on the New South Wales education system has urged the major political parties to do more for education in the election campaign.
Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.
Parents call for feedback on social skills
Parents are calling for the same level of feedback on their children's social development as on their academic progress, according to a national survey.
The Seed
Respect, you only get out what you have put in. What about Life Skills, Communication and Conflict Resolution. Evolution, perhaps some children and adults miss the whole or part of the course. I did, and so how surprised do you think I was when I realised my parents missed the course as well. Things like Compromise, Win Win, Empathy, and Love. Invisible energy and other skills like public speaking, how to Relate, Assuming, Blaming, Forgiveness, Freedom and Discrimination. This is how I learned respect. If you don't know what it is then how do you relate?
The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".
RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.
