Reader reply: Debate over the age of criminal responsibility overlooks the true meaning of intervention

There is a lot of debate about raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, and Michael Bradley’s article on the topic goes down the common path of confusing intervention with custodial sentences. Indeed locking up children as young as 10 should be avoided, and except in very rare cases, it is. But criminal responsibility means something else; it allows for intervention, and in the case of youth crime, helps to prevent re-offending.

Managing young offenders is an ethical minefield, and the South Australian system seems to make an effort to be humane with the goal of prevention rather than punishment.