Pity these kids cant be sent for a dose of bad lads army, after seing the series on TV I think any kid that gets wayward or gets a criminal record ought to be joined up. Saw some excellent results on the series, they pulled them apart mentally and built them back up.
I went to a forces boarding school (for 7 years) aged 11 and it was, then, run to a very strict regime and was similar to Bad Lads Army in some respects... Didn't do me any harm. In fact, it's made me who I am today.
I'm starting to believe that National Service should be re-introduced... Perhaps, if you leave education before 21 you should be conscripted to National Service... Just a thought :-/
My Dad passed away when my little brother was hust 13/14 and he was at that age where he was pushing Mum and Dad to see how far he could get, well he went off the rails and stopped going to school, he was already smoking and drinking (had allready had his stomach pumped after nicking and downing a bottle of southern comfort) When he reached 16 he actually surprised by saying he was seriously thinking of joining the army to straighten himself out, but managed to get a job and attend colledge, allthough he has turned out ok in the long run, I think he still feels a dose of army diciplene would have been better for him.