As a magistrate and someone who has been involved with the delivery, training and education of youth workers for over 40 years, I have been increasingly disturbed by the government's plans to build the so-called "fortified college" (Youth custody: what is the Future?, CYP Now, 3 February).
This is the most ill-conceived of any response to youth crime, education and reform I can remember.
While there has always been an emphasis on education and learning in youth work, those of us involved over decades have learnt that a blinkered "mono-educational" response is inadequate, especially when working with young people with multiple disadvantages and challenges. It is this kind awareness that perhaps led the alliance of 29 children's organisations and other groups, headed by Children's Rights Alliance for England and including the NSPCC's chief executive, Peter Wanless, to protest against the concept of and intentions for the fortified college.
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