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6 eahwnustsuri ufme stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stouffville oht l4a 7x5 publisher- ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer editorinchief advertising director business manager brenda larson debra welter margaret fleming office manager vivian oneil regional editor brian kirlik classified manager stephen mathieu editor tracy kibble distribution director barry goodyear editorial system has tools to deal with young offenders jonathan wamback was walking his dog in a park when three people attacked him kicked him repeated ly in the head possibly with steeltoe boots leav ing him comatose and in critical condition because those charged with this crime are 16 and 17 years old the most they could face if they are convict ed under the young offenders act is three years in jail plus two years probation that is not justice they should answer the charges in adult court of course the young offenders act is a widely unpopular piece of legislation york regional police chief julian fantino and premier mike harris are among those calling for it to be overhauled the ques tion is does the legislation need to be beefed up there is a widespread public perception that youth crime has increased since the act was introduced in 1984 which isnt true crimes by people under 18 have decreased both across canada and in york region and the proportion of crimes committed by young people remains low of the 3644 crimes against persons last year youths between 12 and 17 were charged with 559 and 67 of the 302 weapons charges were attributed to young offenders v but theres a more disturbing set of statistics about violent crime between 1996 and 1998 violent crimes such as assaults increased by 9 per cent with weapons charges rising by 103 per cent in 1996 there were 533 crimes against persons by youths compared to 583 last year weapons charges jumped from 75 in 1996 to 152 in 98 the brutal attack on wamback in newmarket last week and the shooting of a teenager in markhamjune 28 shows why this frightening trend has to be reversed and the best way to send a message to violent youths is to try the accused in the newmarket case in adult court the rhuchmaligned young offenders act contains provisions that allow this and in fact it has been done in york region the man accused of five vicious sex assaults in the steeles avenue and dufferin street area as well as a sixth attack at a vaughan community centre was origi nally charged as a young offender because the attacks happened when he was 17 after a sixweek transfer hearing he was committed to adult court although the hearing is being delayed while his lawyer appeals that ruling intaber alberta the crown attorney has applied for an adult court trial for the 14yearold accused of the- murder of one student and the attempted murder of another at wr myers high school horrific cases such as these paired with the idea of young criminals getting light sentences and having their identities protected is what inflames people against the young offenders act certainly there is room to improve the act as many of its highprofile opponents believe fantino who is president of the ontario police chiefs association advocates adult court trials for repeat offenders and youths charged with violent crimes harris said he wants the young offenders act replaced with a tough new law that imposes meaning ful consequences on young criminals we agree while the law provides a more lenient system for young people the courts have the discretion to try those accused of particularly violent crimes such as the attack on jonathan wamback in adult court federal legislators have given the courts the tools to deal with youth violence but crown attorneys and judges must be willing to use them opinion best of nease letters to the editor wagon wheel ranch not in violation of any laws in response to all the news coverage of the horseback riding accident that claimed a young girls life i find the attempts to place all the blame on the wagon wheel ranch owner and trail guide very disturbing as my wife and i are seasoned riders mostly crosscountry trails fields and jumps we are well aware that horse back riding can be dangerous at any level helmets and proper footwear with heels are not an option they are essen tial unfortunately many people are not aware of this if elizabeth haders parents had possessed this information im sure they would have made certain she was dressed appropriately at this time there are no laws which make helmets and heeled footwear mandatory in public stables wagon wheel ranch has been oper ating in excess of 40 years i the ranch was not in violation of any laws governing riding stables and had a clearly posted ride at your own risk sign what is the point of trying to destroy a longstanding business in the commu nity and the lives of two innocent people and their families there is no doubt this has been a ter rible tragedy let us hope that elizabeths gift to her community will be to increase every ones awareness of the need for safe rid ing attire and the establishment of stari dards to help prevent a similar accident in the future garth krieger aurora young offenders who beat good man are cowards the individuals who beat john wamback as a possible retaliation on his reporting vandalism to the police are cowards it takes a powerful person to stand up to people who are doing wrong in soci ety if you believe your child was involved in the beating you should run himher to the nearest police station and hope that heshe is punished to the full extent of the law you will do your child nor yourself any service to sit back and make excuses for himher as a matter of fact you will be able to face yourself in the mirror knowing that you have righted a great wrong commit- ed by your child if your child cant think independent ly doesnt know the difference between right and wrong or has the capability of such violence then we do not want that person in our community j preston letters policy please include a daytime telephone number with your letter to the editor to con firm authorship unconfirmed letters will not be published brenda larson so many people disrespectful downright mean when you stop to think about it we live in a confrontational society not that thafs a bad thing we have encouraged our kids to grow up knowing their rights knowing they can vdice opinions without being penal ized weve armed them with knowledge so they cannot be harmed by unscrupu lous individuals or groups we have encouraged societys spe cialinterest groups to stage their protests to lobby government to get their messages out and weve all been encouraged at one time or another to express our anger or our issues so that they may be resolved effectively and equitably so why with all this good stuff hap pening in our society with our commit ment to upholding rights are so many people so disrespectful so irresponsible so downright mean a quick scan of a few newspapers seemed to justify my theory that were all getting meaner and nastier the reasons were all there for me in black and white road rage incidents muggings bullying stalking shootings stabbings murders i was feeling mighty blue when i called local associate pastor david flint and he nicely dismissed my theory simple as that he doesnt think were living in a meaner or harder society just a different one my father if he were alive would be 90 years old and he used to tell me sto ries about carrying his 22 around toronto and shooting everything that moved thats what young kids used to do they certainly dont do that now he said i didnt mention that part of the problem in society is in fact that some people do carry guns and knives around but i digress flint aptly points out the need to understand rights and responsibilities he says young people learn an awful lot about their rights but they dont seem to be learning much about the responsibil- ities that go with them it was flint who first raised the idea that we seem to nurture the confronta tion in our world we bring out televi sion cameras to cover the protests espe cially if theres a chance that some nasti- ness will break out flint says its important that we dont overlook all the people who are doing good in the world and simply focus on the bad guys hes right of course i just hope his theory holds more water than mine stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 the stouffville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajaxpickering news advertiser aliiston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east mirk mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian ramborough post georgetown independent acton free press kingston this week lindsay this week markham 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