by Nanette Piotrowski

Created on: August 02, 2008   Last Updated: October 13, 2010

Entire civilizations have been destroyed by upheaval and turmoil caused by criminal activity. From the beginning of time when Cain murdered Abel, we have tried to deal with crime and find ways to stop it. Laws were set in place to let people know the outcome of their actions. However, there were no programs to help those who needed it at that time.

Today, there are programs available but they are not utilized to their full potential and in most cases they are not mandatory prior to the release of someone incarcerated. If someone has been in jail for their third offense of DWI, this person has an alcohol problem that needs to be addressed before they are released back into society. The same applies to a person that has been convicted of drug use or possession.

It makes it more difficult for someone to 'kick the habit', if they have the ability to acquire said drugs or alcohol while they are confined. I realize that it is an insurmountable task to watch and control thousands of prisoners in any given penal complex, but the millions of dollars in tax revenues that are collected by the general public, could and should be spent on much needed programs to rehabilitate the offenders while in confinement.

Crime is not an innate characteristic and you don't just wake up one day and decide to break into someone's home, rob a bank or kill someone. It is a learned behavior and acted upon by someone who has no compunction about committing a crime and the consequences involved therein or an, 'I'll never get caught' attitude.

I have two theories on ways to stop crime:

EDUCATION

As parents, we try to instill in our children the differences between right and wrong and the moral values to make the right decisions. For some, that is all that may be necessary in order to raise a law abiding citizen but for some kids, all the scolding, reprimands, reduced privileges and time-outs may not be enough.

Since our children spend roughly eight hours a day, five days a week in school for the majority of the year, I think it would behoove all schools to integrate into the curriculum some type of program on crime and prevention, like they do with sex education. I think it should be introduced as early as the 5th grade, if not sooner, and the content should include everything from misdemeanors to felonies and the consequences of those crimes.

Whomever teaches the class, should be able to converse at the age level of those children in order for them to understand completely. This should be

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