The first was the heartwarming story of a grandfather watching grandson Gunner Marc Jones march out at Kapooka.

Gunner Jones joined the Army Indigenous Development Program, influenced just a little by the fact that work in Perth was hard to come by.

But the biggest influence was family. Gunner Jones was watched at the march-out by his grandfather Major Don Cruden (Ret).

Gunner Jones said that his grandfather was, “a proper soldier”, adding, “He was always well-dressed, well-spoken, punctual, and held himself well.”

At the other end of the scale was the front page story about Juvenile Justice staff being assaulted by inmates.

Sadly many of these inmates are Indigenous, and many if not all are there because unlike Gunner Jones, they do not have positive family role models.

The two situations are related. The Army is the way to salvation for many young men. I know from contact with many ex-students over the years, that the Army saved them from an aimless life.

The Army became their “family”.

Although I know Kapooka personnel cringe at the thought, they perhaps have the answer for juveniles who lack direction.

While at Kapooka to take a photo for The Daily Advertiser some years back, I suggested to the senior officer waiting with me, that National Service may be the solution to Australia’s problems with young people.

He winced! He pointed to the class of young gentlemen in the computer lab, saying that today’s Army was a skilled force.

There was little room for recruits who were not self-disciplined and ready to learn the Army’s ways.

He’s probably right. I have relatives in the Armed Services. They have told me a similar story.

I have talked to others who were “called up” for National Service in the days when every young man was required to do three months. Some have told me that it was a waste of time.

But I have met others who say that their time in the Army saved them. It was their first time away from home, their first time in a disciplined environment, the first time that they had seen another side of life.

Once they had “escaped”, they stayed away from home, took a job in a new place, and their life was changed forever.

The Vietnam War tarnished the idea of Military Service. I might add that I wasn’t called up for National Service, so I can’t speak from personal experience.

But let’s look at another DA report from last Wednesday. A 16-year-old loitering outside a house faced charges of assault.

Family break-up and other excuses let him escape with only a good behaviour bond without conviction.

Unless he gets some direction into his life very quickly, this boy will join the Juvenile Justice crowd.

Perhaps we need a disciplined regime for community work, an organised and rigorous purpose-driven hard-work scheme, which must also be away from home.  

There is plenty of work to do in National Parks, for example. Ex-Army personnel would be ideal instructors, or maybe these programs could become extensions of an organisation like the PCYC.

We need to do something that is positive, worthwhile, and work-related.

Providing a slap on the wrist hasn’t been achieving results.