J is for Justice #AtoZChallenge

Posted April 12, 2021 in A-Z Challenge / 5 Comments

Life, the Universe, and Everything According to My Five-Year-Old

This month I’m taking part in the Blogging from A-Z Challenge and will be posting every day except Sundays. My readers voted for the theme “Life, the Universe, and Everything According to My Five-Year-Old”. During bedtime discussions and colouring sessions, my daughter will finally be providing the answers to the philosophical problems and unsolved mysteries that have puzzled humanity’s greatest thinkers for centuries.

What should we do about those who break the law?

This was a complex topic for my daughter to handle as obviously she doesn’t understand the nuances of the law and the combination of factors that might lead to someone committing a crime. People are either “goodies” or “baddies in her world, and she doesn’t yet grasp that there may be flaws with the UK justice system.

Me: What should we do with the people that break the law in our society?

Leona: Say “Stop it!”

Me: What if they still do it?

L: TELL THE GROWN-UPS!

Me: What do you think the grown-ups should do about it?

L: Tell the police.

Me: And what should the police do?

L: Put them in the jail.

Me: And then what?

L: Set them free.

Me: I see. When should we set them free?

L: After 13 hours.

Me: Is that the same for everybody?

L: If they did something really bad they have to have a bigger minute. And say sorry.

Me: Do you think we should offer help to people who have broken the law so that they might find it easier to live by the rules?

L: Only if they turn nice again.

Me: How can someone who has committed a crime make things right again?

L: By doing good things. Then we can forgive them.

child's drawing of some burglars with a bag of money being arrested by the police
“Robbers with a big bag of money being caught by the police” by Leona, aged 5.
over to you

Do you think the justice system should focus on harsher punishments or on the factors which lead to people breaking the law (or something else)? Do you think restorative justice can work? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Tags: ,

Divider

5 responses to “J is for Justice #AtoZChallenge

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.