We punish criminal or violent acts after the event, presumably to stop the offender doing the same thing again and to deter others from committing the same offence. Would it not be better to act before the fact? This is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff instead a fence at the top.
I lived in such a community just after World War II, in a small town in Northland. We had a Policeman who looked after dog registration and walked around town talking to everyone.
He never had to get his handcuffs out. Everyone knew everyone and there was no place to hide unsocial behaviour. We all got on together in peace and harmony. I've no doubt there were many other small communities like this.
Can we, somehow, get back to this happy state? I suspect not, but we can, I think, get much closer to it.

When a child is born he or she is morally neutral. The child is completely selfish and concerned with its own wants. The mother and later the community gradually try to change this attitude to one where the individual becomes unselfish, to assist others with their concerns.
Obviously, we're not completely successful in this. I think we can improve this training. But this faces us with a dilemma.
Rigid training 'in the way we should go”, as was done in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, destroys humanity giving all power to the few.
So we must act warily in this training, giving freedom to each to develop as they want, but being consistent with respect for other's welfare.
Is there a solution? I think we can go some way to nearing the goal of a 100 per cent peaceful and harmonious society by improving our childcare and education practices.

After all, even now we produce a majority of people who are mindful of others and independent in their thinking. All we have to do is to bring the 'outsiders” into the fold.
Neurologists are finding the development of the brain which occurs while a baby is in the womb, carries on after birth, and close contact with the mother is necessary if normal growth is to continue satisfactorily.
This close contact needs to continue for a few years and will slowly be replaced with wider social contacts. Weaning is not just about replacing mother's milk with other food.

So the practice of putting young children into childcare centres while mum goes back to work is piling up trouble for the future and should be abandoned.
Paid parental leave or increased pay for married men with young families should be considered. Extra costs should be balanced against the present costs of prisons, courts, and other costs associated with criminal and anti-social behaviour generally. Mothers need social contacts, especially today where household chores can be completed daily in an hour. So small community centres capable of catering for about 20 families should e placed throughout suburbs where mothers and their young can meet and join together, and where children always have access to their mother.
Our schools must be staffed by people who broadly educated and of personal integrity. This will mean controlled entrance to the profession and salaries which will attract such people.

While social pressures may well reduce criminal and anti-social behaviour, in the big cities the problem will still exist. And ‘bad people' will find people of like attitudes to bolster their egos. If we are to stop these people we must find some method of deterring them that is more effective than present methods.
Can we improve? We must if humankind is to survive and reap the rewards of the electronic age.

J Mills, Mount Maunganui.