Youth Criminal Justice Act Essay

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Pages: 4

Youth Criminal Justice Act Essay

The government of Canada introduced the YCJA about 13 years ago to help Canadian youth offenders reintegrate back into society without leaving anything on their criminal record that would affect their possible thriving career in adulthood. Some gangs use children that fall under the YCJA to carry their illegal items, such as weapons and drugs. They do so because the kids are under 18 meaning that they are under the YCJA and will not receive as harsh of punishments as an adult. The YCJA is fair & equitable due to the steady decrease in youth crime since the Youth Criminal Justice Act was introduced in 2002. The rehabilitation & reintegration or the R&R are the YJCA’s main purpose. Rehabilitation is to help the offender get over what he/she has done and then reintegrate the young offender back into society. Youth needs to focus on their education so that he/she can receive proper schooling so that they can benefit society and have a successful life. The Youth Criminal Justice Act is fair
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Due to the use of children in some gangs that are under the YCJA to carry their illegal items such as weapons and drugs. These children are not as harshly punished because these children are younger than 18 meaning that they are under the YCJA and will not receive as harsh as punishments as an adult would even though they may be doing the same severity of a crime. This is a reason why so many people disagree with the lack of harshness that the Youth Criminal Justice Act provides. The YCJA has many benefits to young offenders such as not being “tagged” as a criminal for the rest of their life; this means that they can have a successful life with no criminal record to determine what job they can have or what school they can attend. These are some reasons why people should not always judge the YCJA by thinking it is a “slap on the