Mahmoud Ahmad
I just watched the other day a unique snapchat account of a journalist, who deals in security matters. He was present during a live bust of young Saudi drifters at a location on the edge of Riyadh by Interior Ministry’s security personnel. Police coordinated the bust with the traffic department and this journalist was in an undercover police car that was giving live information to waiting police cars. The snapchat account was so vivid that I saw young Saudis making dangerous drifting maneuvers with their vehicles that can at best be described as suicidal.
Drifting is an art by itself and over the past years has become a sport in the West where it is practiced in special places away from main streets with cars designed for this purpose and with drivers wearing seatbelts, helmets and other safety measures. The drifting formula series is run with an intention of competition and not abandoning safety. This is not the case here in Saudi Arabia.
Anyhow, when the signal was given, tens of police cars stormed the location and drifters and the crowd that was watching scrambled in many directions to escape the long arm of the law. But the planned operation resulted in the majority of them being arrested on the location and others later at checkpoints. What was indeed enigmatic was why the energetic Saudi youth were wasting their energy in this dangerous sport when the same energy could have been utilized elsewhere.
I kept asking myself what would be the best punishment for such, lets call it here, crimes? I do not sympathize with these road terrorists as they are one of the main reasons why we have high number of road casualties. The most visible punishment is the one handed down by the court that puts them in jail. But that got me thinking. A jail time could make them come out worse than before with a hardened resolve to continue with their acts. Also they would be labeled as 'former prisoners' and that will have a very negative impact on the person and his image in society. They may even defy society and go back to drifting or to commit other crimes without a care about their own or other people’s lives.
This made me look for alternative punishment and what I suggest here would, in a way, use whatever excess energy they have and put it to good use to benefit society while also teaching them a lesson and ingrain in them values that might even shape them into better citizens.
When I was living in America, where I got my higher education, from time to time I used to see a big minivan parked on the side of the road and a couple of teenagers wearing uniforms cleaning the road side and pavements, sometimes some of these youth would be scrubbing down the graffiti on the wall or painting a fence. I did not know who they were until I was told they were juvenile offenders — youth who had committed minor crimes — and instead of a jail time the judge had made them serve many hours in community service. I loved that idea at that time.
I suggest a similar option to be introduced here. These drifters, who have plenty of energy to spare, should be sentenced to varying hours of community service, in line with the degree of their offenses. I wish I would see a big van on the side of the road with these drifters collecting garbage. Or better still, I wish if I would see them inside poor neighborhoods, in their specific uniforms, while painting the street walls or fixing and cleaning homes. I am sure that there are many ways that we can put such energy to good use to benefit us as a society.
I would like to cite examples of judges in Saudi Arabia who sentenced youth, caught for minor crimes, to an alternative punishment. A judge, a couple of years ago, sentenced a man accused of drinking liquor to clean 26 mosques. Another judge sentenced a Saudi youth to memorize chapters of the Holy Qur'an. While another one was made to assist and help in a graveyard.
Alternative punishment in my opinion disciplines the man from the inside. I am sure there is a positive effect on the person himself after finishing the sentence. Even better, why not sentence youth, accused of minor crimes, to finish a course in computers or learn new skills at training facilities. Once these youth are exposed to this, it will change their minds forever and will also learn that putting their lives in danger through drifting or any other minor crimes is not wroth it.
Government departments that need manpower for help and may not have the budget to get it, can get their manpower they need through the courts that sentence youth with alternative punishment. This way these departments get to save money and put the Saudi youth to work. They can work in hospitals if need be, in elderly homes, to distribute or cook food for the needy. They will learn new skills and they will for sure change the way of their thinking forever.
Alternative sentences could and should be used to better youth who are first time offenders or are casual in their outlook to life. But repeat offenders and those willing to live their life on the edge without learning from the lifeline offered by the judge to correct course in their lives, should know that there is no alternative for them except the full force of the law.
The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa
Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
