Should the age of criminal responsibility, in England, change?

Im not sure.

ye i should of put a "not sure" option cuz im not sure either! cuz it seems young but really at ten a child does know the difference between right and wrong but they may not be emotianally ready for the same punishments for crime. like the two children in teh James Bulger case but then they obviously had quite disturbed childhoods. on the other hand there will always be exceptions, so im not sure!

i dnt think i can add another option on though :S

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

What should the option be called?

"To the gallows I say" ?

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

You wrote:
What should the option be called?

"To the gallows I say" ?

errrrm :S ?

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Technically if you aged 17 or under your a Juvenile. And are thus likely to recieve reprimands and then a final warning before you ever appear before the Youth Court (yes theres a separate court for Juveniles).

And even then being sent to a detention facility is used as a last resort and in strict specified circumstances.

So for the moment its adequate imo.

Back in BLACK

Seraphim wrote:
Technically if you aged 17 or under your a Juvenile. And are thus likely to recieve reprimands and then a final warning before you ever appear before the Youth Court (yes theres a separate court for Juveniles).

And even then being sent to a detention facility is used as a last resort and in strict specified circumstances.

So for the moment its adequate imo.

What about for 14 year olds who go around stabbing people for fun?

I know people like that. They don't stab me cos I'm a top shotter (not really, it's cos I've known them since they were in nappies).

I still think they should be locked up, or at least if they had more to threaten them with.

Don't just do something! Stand there.

Seraphim wrote:
then a final warning

and then they will also be referred to the Youth Offending Team. consisting of Police, Social Services, Education and probation officers.

Seraphim wrote:
before you ever appear before the Youth Court (yes theres a separate court for Juveniles).

(they are less formal and the public is not allowed in to hear the case)

(FYI Smile )

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

British law? Islam?

In Islam its from puberty (though there are earlier stages where discipline has been suggested by.)

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

No it's 10 years old. when you are responsible for your crimes and will be punished according to the law.so if you done a really bad crime e.g murder you could go to prison but not if you were younger than 10 when you commited it.

Are you thinking islamically?
then the answer is u are countable for your actions from puberty.

did that help at All?

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

I just wanted to say why i put "it should be younger" as an option.

we were discussing this and in a european country the age is/used to be 8 years old and some people were saying that 8 is a good age. this is because children these days are growing up quicker and satrt being involved in crime at younger ages therefore the the responsibility age should be younger too. at eight i think children do know the difference between right and wrong unless they live in a bad environment. but like i said earlier there will always be exceptions whether they are ilnesses, disabillities, bad parenting, bad friends or whatever.

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

I think these exceptions are acutally in the majority for 10 or 8 year olds who have committed crimes. Should we really out the full force of the law on them? Or is it better to look at why they committed those crimes and look at the roots of the problem?

There was a kid who brought a knife into school, and his mum didn't even check his bag, he was 6! How many of us made our own bags or lunch when we were 6?

“Before death takes away what you are given, give away whatever there is to give.”

Mawlana Jalal ud Din Rumi

Children's chief apologises for Bulger killers comment

England's children's commissioner says she has apologised to James Bulger's mother for "hurtful" comments about his murder by two 10-year-old boys.

At the weekend, Ms Atkinson said his killers should not have been prosecuted because children under 12 did not fully understand their actions.

She has since stressed she believes serious crimes should be punished.

Her original comments had led James's mother to call for her sacking because of her "twisted and insensitive" views.

Read more @

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.