The Future of AmericaA starving boy stole food from a market, was caught, and had his right hand cut off. The following week the same boy, after stealing fruit from an orchard, was spotted again and his left hand was cut off. A few weeks later, leaving the back door of a bakery open, his mouth full and his eyes no less vibrant, the boy was captured once again. The men of the city were perplexed: what should they cut away next? The men of the town didn't know what to do, until someone offered to give the boy a job. The boy never stole again. As difficult as it can be to keep an open mind when dealing with a situation, sometimes alternative solutions are better than the extreme one. Throughout American history, there is evidence of overcoming narrow-mindedness. This evidence is seen in the voting rights of women and the freedom of African Americans. With the increasing youth violence present in America, we are once again given a task. This task, like that of women's suffrage and civil rights, will not have a simple solution. If the men in the story above hadn't found a workaround, what would be cut next? Arm? Feet? After reading this topic and all its perspectives, I believe that severe punishment will never succeed in deterring youth crime. Rehabilitation and prevention, however difficult to accept, deserve attention. The arguments arose from examining the increase in convicted young criminals and the seriousness of the crimes committed. The youth crime rate has reached its highest level in twenty years, says Patricia Cohen in her article entitled "Punishment". Equally disconcerting, in her opinion, is the fact that "from 1988 to 1991 the rate of arrests for juvenile homicide rose by 80% (518)". Terrible crimes committed by young people are sometimes as serious as those of their adult counterparts. As a result, the term “youth” is no longer synonymous with innocence. With this sudden “madness,” as coined by Males and Docuyanan in “Crackdown on Kids: Giving Up on the Young,” juveniles are being referred to court at increasingly younger ages (519). This can be seen in Wisconsin, where ten-year-olds can be tried as adults for murder (519). Does incarceration deter youth crime? Some believe it is the only way to go, others disagree. Males and Docuyanan are among those who disagree, raising the point that "If more prisons and safer sentencing were the solution to crime and delinquency, California should be a paradise where citizens leave their doors unlocked and walk around undisturbed on the streets at midnight".(521).