[BBKing]

Oh great, let's demonise our children by ignoring the facts and going along with the Daily Mail's view of the world, that'll make them grow up to respect us and our laws.

I'd be interested in this if I could be assured that, say, directors of companies who fleece people of millions in pension mis-sellings or politicians who take bribes (or Jeffrey Archer) would be sweeping the street outside in a lurid pink suit with **** on the back. Somehow I doubt they would (and they are the ones who tend to end up in rather comfortable open prisons rather than the rather small number of persistent yobs who cause trouble).

As for making them do useful jobs around the place, this isn't the 1950s. One major argument against, say, national service is that the job of Average Squaddie today is far removed from what it was in the 1950s - there are far more specialised roles, equipment, training with other NATO forces, IT etc. and it's likely the Army wouldn't be particularly happy to be diverted from its primary task (being a highly-skilled but rather small rapid response force) to become a large, low-skilled place to put bored youth for a year.

Likewise, building, plumbing, electrical work etc. is a trade that these days requires a degree of skill and of course a large amount of certificates etc. Not many people would want to live in a house or work in a hospital wired by a mugger or graffiti artist who was doing it as a punishment in a pink suit. By all means offer to *teach* them a trade* as part of their punishment and rehabilitation, but leave plumbing to people who want to be plumbers.

If you're looking for a place for low skilled workers, try hospital cleaners or any other job primarily done by recent immigrants. MRSA, anyone?

* After all, expertise in daylight robbery is a plus in, say, a builder or plumber