Yorkshire Post columnist James Reed was not impressed. "Even if the involvement of the young people in the peer panels is only advisory and the offences in question very minor, this process still constitutes a concession to the idea that children know best," he writes. "That is not a message that the criminal justice system of all places should be endorsing."
Surely, he has missed the point. This isn't about saying young people know better than adults but about listening to and respecting their views - something the justice system hasn't been too good at in the past. It also acknowledges that young people often take more notice of their peers.
The first pilot schemes will be in Preston, where the local press is a bit more positive about it. The Preston Citizen quotes one local who is proud her area "is at the forefront of an initiative aimed at changing the lives of local youths for good".
- The Daily Mail appears slightly sceptical about the Learning and Skills Council's "desperate bid" to encourage girls to go into further education.
Apparently the government-funded body is touting research that shows the glamorous wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of football players "are not airheads who enjoy spending their husbands' enormous wages".
In fact, almost all have decent qualifications to fall back on. The exception is Victoria Beckham "but the training quango insisted the chances of following in her footsteps were less than one in 200,000".
The study follows previous research that showed many young people think they can succeed through sport, acting, singing or reality TV. Could the reason that so many girls envy WAGs and aspire to be like them be because every time they sneeze it makes headlines in such papers as the Daily Mail?
- John Crace, writing in The Guardian's technology section, tested out a new global positioning system (GPS) tracker jacket for children on his 12-year-old son, or "asset", as young Robbie is described on the computer screen.
It's not cheap. The vest costs £250 with an extra £80 if you want a Kevlar (stab-proof) lining - plus a £10 satellite tracking charge. Yet, what's most astonishing is the sheer range of child-tracking devices already on the market, including the Toddler Tag - a domino-sized device that emits radio waves.
What's more, The Guardian informs us, Professor Kevin Warwick of Reading University has developed technology that makes it possible for children to have a chip inserted under their skin. Scary.
SOUNDBITE
"Blaming games for the ills of society is something the tabloid papers do. This is not scaremongering." - TV psychologist Dr Tanya Bryon defends her government-backed review examining childrenand new media.
