Moreover, it will give someone with a disaffected youth a second chance. Being in trouble with the police, or having a poor school performance does not affect you in the services. It saves people who might otherwise turn to crime. A good friend on mine couldn't afford holidays and excursions, so was going to turn to crime to get more money. However, instead, he joined the army and got the wonderful experience, but also got the money to pay for what he wanted. He says " now I have joined the army, it is obvious that what I was thinking before was completely wrong, and I am pleased that everyone had talked me out of it." Obviously, conscription will stop many young people turning to crime, which will therefore lower the number of them being imprisoned, often for petty crimes. A staggering 24.3% of young people said that before they joined the Great British services, they were considering crime as a way of getting what they wanted. They all said, however, that they would not even think about it now. Surely, a great career opportunity in the Great British services is much more appealing than a life of crime and imprisonment…
In addition, conscription will help to powerfully protect the UK, which will reduce the risk of terrible terrorist attacks. It will also help your country, which is fiercely fighting on two fronts, at this very second. Sergeant Hill says " Having a bigger army would make the UK 48% safer, and will reduce the amount of terrorist attacks by 64.7%" Remember the terrorist attacks on London, the amount of people that died, and the number of people that are probably traumatized for life. Now think, if conscription was introduced earlier, this might not have happened. My aunt was in London on that day, and heard the bomb in the underground go off. She now has to live in a nursing home, because she is traumatized. Clearly, conscription will make the country much safer, and more secure. This means that you will be able to go out in day and night, without being worried. 79% of people living in the cities said that they would feel much safer going out if there was conscription, and 7 out of 10 people in a survey said that conscription should have been re-introduced earlier. Cyprus has conscription, and there are next to no terrorist attacks there. Moreover, 97.5% of all the people their say they feel safe at all times. Furthermore, the UK is helping to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, so more soldiers are constantly needed out there. Also, if there were more soldiers, they would get shorter duties, and would be able to come back home more often. Additionally, if somebody gets a minor injury and cannot fight for a while, they can have more time for recovery because there will be more people to cover for them. This will clearly benefit everybody.
However, on the other hand, conscription can lower conscripts liberties, including education and relationship choices, and it restricts their freedom, which is clearly wrong. It has been proven that you can learn a lot more when you are younger, than when you are older. 67% of ex-army recruits said that they were going to go back into learning when they had left the army, but when they did, they felt like they couldn't go back into education. Doctor Green says, " When you are young, your brain is like a sponge, and you can soak up lots of information. When you get older, your brain gets harder and harder and less like a sponge, which means it is much harder to learn and remember information." This means that if you do go into the services because of conscription, you will find it very hard at university, and might not be able to complete your degree. If you have gone into the services, and decided that it is not for you, it will be hard to get a well-paid job without a university degree, and it will be even harder to learn anything in university or other types of education. My uncle went into the army at 18, but decided that he didn't really like it. He stopped, and tried to get a job, but because he didn't have a university degree, he found it extremely hard. In the end, he went back into the services even though he didn't really enjoy it, because it was the only well-paid job he could find that he could take. Furthermore, there is a degree of forced labour in the services, and particularly in the services. This means that many people have to drop out of the army each year, because you have to be at a very high level of fitness, and the training is very tough.
Additionally, there is a high risk of death, injury, and trauma, which could heavily affect someone, their family and their way of life. Imagine being told that a member of your family has been killed or seriously injured. How would you feel? How could you cope? How could you live in fear of it? For Mrs Smithson, that nightmare became reality. She says " My son, Sam, had always wanted to go into the army, so when he did it was like a dream come true. We would always look forward to when he came home, so we could see him again. However, last year, a week before Christmas we were told that he had been killed in fighting. We were devastated, and we are still trying to get over it. This past year has been very hard, and we truly pity anybody who is going through the same horrors as we are." Even though the majority of army recruits are not seriously injured or killed, imagine if you or someone in your family was that small minority. Also, if you are not hurt whilst serving in the army, you could still be affected. Post-traumatic stress disorder is becoming more and more common in ex-army recruits. Doctor Richardson says, " we have seen a dramatic rise in post-traumatic stress disorder in ex-army recruits. Obviously, life in the army has become much more stressful, or we would not have seen the 46% rise that there has been" My brother was going to go into the army, but when one of his friends got shot in the arm and had to have it amputated, he decided against it…
In conclusion, I think that there are a great number of valid arguments both for and against conscription, and I understand both sides. For example, conscription opens up a world of opportunities, and helps disaffected youths, but it can also restrict your education and other important choices. Also, conscription would help to powerfully protect the UK, but at the same time there is a high risk of death, injury, and trauma. I think that they are all strong arguments, but the UK has managed without conscription, and people can join the services if they want to. Therefore, I think that conscription is not needed in the UK.
