Some people think that people who have committed crimes should do unpaid community work such as helping a charity or cleaning the streets, rather than spending time in prison. Do you agree or disagree?

The number of crimes committed in general across the globe has gone up. Thus, increasing the number of criminals behind bars exponentially. Some are of the opinion that rather than them serving time sitting behind bars, they should be made to do mandatory community services. I believe that it should depend on the severity of the crime committed. Not all crimes are equal. For examaple a road accident, which is not intentional, can’t be compared to a cold blooded murder. Those who’ve committed petty crimes should be given a second chance to reform themselves by giving back to society. It would also serve cost effective for the administration as services like cleaning of street, garbage disposal, etc. require funds that can be saved or minimised by imposing manadatory commnity services on certain group of offenders. On the other hand, putting goons on the road in the name of community service would cause more harm then good. Firstly, you would need additional security to keep them in check since they will no longer be in the confined spaces of a prison. So chances of runaways increase exponentially. Moreover, they can be a bad influence on the society, should their work involve verbal communicaltion with other in the general crowd. To conclude, not every criminal can be reformed. Prisioners, especially children or those with low severity crime can be allowed to do charity work whereas brutal thugs should not be allowed to roam outside the prison because they are harmful to the society.