Pubdate: Fri, 31 Oct 2003
Source: Pensacola News Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2003 The Pensacola News Journal
Contact:  http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1675
Author: Norman Hughes

NOT FOR MILITARY

In "Military an option to prison" (Letters, Oct. 23), Clark Tugwell 
suggests that young people charged with drug, alcohol and other offenses be 
offered an option of entering military service instead of jail.

The military services have a minimum age requirement of 18. If an 
18-year-old (an adult) is facing jail time, it is most likely not for a 
first-time youthful offense. Drug and alcohol problems generally begin at a 
much earlier age. At any rate, the military does not want them, and if 
their offenses are a matter of public record, will not accept them.

Today's military is a promising career option for young people, not a 
dumping ground for troubled youth. The military has a zero-tolerance policy 
coupled with random testing that eventually identifies these people and 
sends them packing, hopefully before their inappropriate behavior has 
endangered the lives of others.

While jail may not be the best place for some of these youth, the military, 
where responsibility and leadership are the name of the game, is one of the 
worst places to send them. The answer continues to lie in early detection 
of problem behavior, and rehabilitation prior to adulthood. Once the 
problem child becomes an adult, they must accept responsibility for their 
own actions.

- - Norman Hughes,

Pensacola
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom