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You could stop bullying by 50% tomorrow.. just by mentoring..
taking the high risk/ challenged young kids and match/ mentor them up with older
Kids who would get extra credits for doing this .. the kids would meet and discuss issues/challenges.
The older boy that gets matched with the younger one .. would tell the rest of the grade/class “ you mess with him you mess with me”
I’d also have community mentoring.. get the high risk substance abuse teens not into sports .. get him working .. many of these kids have no father figure or worse a poor excuse for a father
A community mentor can give any kid hope .. that life can be better by better choices
Homeless… that’s a tough one
But I’d start by recognizing that if 50% are veterans then .. I’d tap the community to “ thank a fallen veteran” let him come spend a week at your place to clean himself up .. and to try to get him employment
I’m under the impression 80% of the homeless can work
And I’d try to challenge the business community to help the homeless out
The town/state fed grants could be housing to get the homeless cleaned up to work
The business community would hire them and mentor or coach them ..
I’d also think about non violent criminals to get out of prison and put the addicted substance abusers for homeless in prison to dry out and then on a mentoring work schedule again
All these college age students in colleges going for counseling would volunteer or get credits for counseling the homeless
I don't think that's the way to go. You are making it illegal to be poor and/or mentally ill and locking people up for this. That's harsh. How do you make someone obey rules to not sleep on the streets when they have nowhere to go?
I think at minimum we have to ask ourselves what are we doing here: Trying to make ourselves more comfortable or trying to actually help our fellow man?
These people cannot be helped. I tried to tell you.
They are better off in jail than in our streets assaulting the public.
Because homeless people are the only ones that commit crimes?
Your own source didn't even seem certain if the perpetrator was in fact homeless and they didn't place much emphasis on that at all in fact. For all we know it wasn't even random and the victim might have said or did something to provoke it. Pick another example.
They are better off in jail than in our streets assaulting the public.
First of all, Daily Mail... But setting that aside, how about I go find one of the many stories about sexually frustrated incel types that committed senseless violence and said that all guys who struggle to get laid need to be rounded up and locked away?
Or point to the fact that so much more rape and murder is committed by men in general, maybe none should be trusted?
Or any other completely bonkers stereotype that paints a huge group of people as automatically guilty by association, of the heinous acts of some few?
From such broken logic is prejudice made. "These people" indeed. If you go far enough down that road, no human being is innocent, or deserves to walk free.
They are better off in jail than in our streets assaulting the public.
Some of the most profiling serial murderers in history were men who had good jobs, a middle-class suburban life style, and had a traditional family with a wife and kids. Check out the story of the BTK, or Green River killer. At least one of those two was a VET, community leader and church deacon. Neither were homeless, both were highly intelligent and led “normal” lives.
They, stable middle-class mild mannered men, are better off in jail than in our streets planning their next murder…by your standard.
The real key to dealing with homelessness is two-fold. Neither solution is simple or easy to obtain.
1. Do something to provide cheaper affordable housing in urban areas in this country;
2. Deal effectively with mental illness and substance abuse among the homeless by offering free mental health services including the provision of medication.
Most homeless people are mentally ill, alcoholics, or drugs addicts who simply sell their own labor at a high enough price to afford housing in most of America's urban areas.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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First, I would make it illegal to sleep pin a vehicle overnight, or in a tent or cardboard box on any public property, including parks, and under the freeway. Then I would provide alternatives for them when rousted by the police.
There are several varieties of the homeless, from my experience working in Seattle and riding the bus with some of them at times:
1. The chronic homeless druggies/mentally ill that prefer the lack of structure and rules and will never accept any alternatives offered to them. They will require enforcement action.
2. The unfortunate workers that just don't have enough for the first/last month rent yet, and are working hard to get it.
3. The unfortunate people that were laid off from a good job, and lost there home while trying to find a new job.
The only way to eliminate #1 above is to incarcerate them. Not in the traditional prisons, but in new facilities with minimalist rooms, strict rules, mandatory drug, alcohol and other counseling. There would be mandatory job training, and
perhaps tax benefits to employers that would take them on as interns or employees when they are "ready." It would have to be unpleasant enough to motivate them to get out.
There needs to be some kind of safety net for 2 and 3, with temporary housing such as is happening now in King County, WA with the purchase of hotels. There would be strict rules regarding drug use, limited stay time, and required proof of actual attempts to get a job.
First, I would make it illegal to sleep pin a vehicle overnight, or in a tent or cardboard box on any public property, including parks, and under the freeway. Then I would provide alternatives for them when rousted by the police.
There are several varieties of the homeless, from my experience working in Seattle and riding the bus with some of them at times:
1. The chronic homeless druggies/mentally ill that prefer the lack of structure and rules and will never accept any alternatives offered to them. They will require enforcement action.
2. The unfortunate workers that just don't have enough for the first/last month rent yet, and are working hard to get it.
3. The unfortunate people that were laid off from a good job, and lost there home while trying to find a new job.
The only way to eliminate #1 above is to incarcerate them. Not in the traditional prisons, but in new facilities with minimalist rooms, strict rules, mandatory drug, alcohol and other counseling. There would be mandatory job training, and
perhaps tax benefits to employers that would take them on as interns or employees when they are "ready." It would have to be unpleasant enough to motivate them to get out.
There needs to be some kind of safety net for 2 and 3, with temporary housing such as is happening now in King County, WA with the purchase of hotels. There would be strict rules regarding drug use, limited stay time, and required proof of actual attempts to get a job.
No problem with number one creating a safe facility for them would be fine as long as it is not like some of the old mental hospitals that used to exist. The problem I see with helping two and three is if you are only offering temporary housing even if they get a job if you have a time limit on how long they can stay there is a good chance if they live in an area with high rent and will not be able to afford housing and end up housing. You could do this if there could be affordable housing in safe areas for them. I am in no way putting down your ideas I think they are good they may just need tweaked a bit.
I would re-create institutions, although they would be much more lax than the older ones. They would be located in rural areas and be like a giant campus where you could walk around outside, schedule events during the day, while being supervised and not being able to leave the campus under normal circumstances.
Less than a minimum security prison, with the security for the sake of the state charges. To be admitted to one of these facilities, you would need to have a diagnosed mental disorder, and maybe a second class of facilities for drug addiction. Importantly an institution for drug addicts would not prohibit drugs; that would drive away the people it's intended to help. Rather drugs would be distributed with some hope of ending the addiction.
Locating these institutions in rural areas would minimize the costs of building and running them, and also insulate the broader population from the negative behaviors of the state charges.
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