Conversation about juvenile delinquency in the Philippines

Allen:
what is your thesis about?
Anouk:
it;s about evaluating the quality of the care for children in conflict with the law in ngo;s
Allen:
ahhh yes knk!
minor offenders right?
Anouk:
yes
Allen:
can i ask you something?
its about the same topic
Anouk:
sure
Allen:
because here in the philippines
i have experienced minors/kids
doing crimes
Anouk:
yes
Allen:
maybe willingly or not
because they know that if they get caught they cant go to jail
ok theres no question there
hahahaa
but what do you think about that?
because i have seen it personally!
as crazy as it sounds
in EDSA
during rush hour when its traffic they open doors of cars and grab whatever they can and then run
so sad though
Anouk:
yeah that;s the whole thing about the new law, age of criminal response etc
well it really depends on what perspective you take
it's a very normal reaction to like a person goes to jail when he commits a crime, but the question is if it will serve society
because if your goal is to prevent re-offending, jail will not be the solution
Allen:
ahhhh
Anouk:
all researches show that jail time (especialy here in the philippines) will only make matters worse, and increase the chance of reoffending!
Allen:
i see your point
Anouk:
so if you chose jailtime, and you don't want reoffending, then you have to lock somebody up for life. that's the only way somebody will not reoffend
in case of children, it's no option for me
and in case of adults, not as well (ofcourse depending on the severety of the crime)
Allen
i am learning something here
ok ok
Anouk:
so the alternative is to modify the behaviour of the children (which is way easier than changing behavior of adults, because children are still developing)
for example by increasing problemsolving skills (instead of using drugs), increasing moral development
Allen:
ahhhh
Anouk:
but also, improving the quality of lifes of children, because if you can't eat, you can't blame them that they are stealing
they are surviving
that's my opinion
i would choose a safe environment (education, good parenting skills, etc) to grow up, over jailtime
question is... is that possible? it's expensive, and more expensive than jail
that's for the gouvernment to decide