"What usually happens to criminals? In the UK, when the police catch criminals. They go to court and then they usually go to prison. However in New Zealand they have a different system for young people who break the law, the system comes from the Maori people. They were the first inhabitants of New Zealand and they have ancient and respected traditions. They understand that crime hurts many people: the victim, the victim's family, the criminal's family and the criminal too. In Maori society, when a young person breaks the law, the community has a meeting, the people who are affected by the crime sit down together and talk about the situation. In this way, young criminals understand the effects of their actions. They have to meet the person who they have hurt. For example teenagers who have been in a fight have to face each other again and talk about the problem. In the meetings, families decide what the young offender must do in order to compensate their victims. One of the most important things that the offender has to do is apologise to the victim. This is a very difficult and uncomfortable thing for most young offenders to do. If a teenager steals something from a classmate, the community asks him or her to say sorry to the classmate, Most young people say this is the hardest thing to do. The Maori system helps young people to change their behaviour, it tries to bring something positive from a negative situation, and most of the time it succeeds."
Do you think the Maori system is a good idea? Why?/ Why not?
