Victorian


 * More and more children becomes criminals **
 * More and more poor children get criminal. They are pickpockets, they steal food and other valuable things. **
 * There are new lists that proof that children at the age of 12 are being hanged. Is there anything to do about it or do they deserve this punishment? **

We are all very worried about crime and its dimension. As we all know, the poor children don’t have the energy to earn their own money, so some of them have to steal food, clothes, drinks etc to survive. Some “lucky” children get a job in the factory, they don’t get much money, but more than they had before. They don’t have much time off and the bosses don’t treat them well, but at least they earn money. Some of them are very unlucky, because they get sent right to death, like many children in the mines. The jobs are so unsafe that some of them haven’t worked a day before they get killed. For an example, the most unsafe mines can collapse anytime, and if you work in a chimney and get stock, no one will help you out.

As I wrote earlier, there is evidence that children at the age of 12 has being hanged. Is this right or should we do something about it? The sources say that it is the police who have hanged them, but this isn’t sure. It’s also a rumour saying that they will separate children from adults, and men from women. It’s a good start, but the hope is that the number of people being hanged will sink, and at the end it's zero.

The jail isn’t the best place to be, it’s no limits for age or gender there. The children are being abused and mistreated. After they’ve been in jail, they’re sent to a Reform School. There they have to go to school some hours, and then they have to work the rest of the day before they go too sleep. Each year there are many hundred children being sent to Reform Schools. Some for stealing watches, handkerchiefs, money or food. Those who steal food are in jail for minimum one month, and get sent to a Reform School for 4 years. If you steal much food you may have to be there for eight years. If you steal a watch, a handkerchief or something that belongs to walkers, you have to be in jail for two weeks before you get sent to a Reform School for two years. We all hope that the number of people in jail and people being hanged will sink. So we hope that they who already have been in jail won’t go back, and the rest of the people never will get in that situation.
 * Reform** ** School **

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