No single answer

It was only a matter of time before National (and probably ACT?) disinterred the ‘‘boot camp’’ approach to young offenders.

The politicians and the other backers who think the ‘‘military’’ approach will work and over time better-behaved young people will emerge normally have themselves had no connection with anything military.

In fact, it’s vaguely insulting to our men and women who volunteer to join the military. They don’t do it to seek behavioural improvement.

Please, Christopher Luxon, show us where ‘‘boot camps’’ have worked in stopping juvenile crime. In fact tell us where they even exist.

Sixty young conscripted squaddies a year won’t deal with the problem of disaffected youth and their dysfunctional families. The answer – and there probably isn’t a single answer – is much more complex than that.

David Townsend, Miramar [abridged]