Kids today have it easy. When we were young a code of conduct was instilled in us from day one. My mother had “the eye”. You knew how to differentiate the “get out of here, adults are talking” look and the “put that down, what did I say about eating at other people’s homes?” look.

At school it was much the same. Teachers were gods. At every school there was always one teacher pupils crowned “the most feared”. He or she (though they were rarely women) would beat the living daylights out of any rogue pupils.

At the time it was horrific, but looking back, I realise our lives could have turned out badly if not for the iron fist-like upbringing.

Today, kids “have rights”. Don’t get me wrong, we all need the law on our side, but part of the reason the social fabric of the youth is unravelling is that they are over-protected by the law.

The school system has been banned from using corporal punishment and parents could lose their kids to social workers if they spank them.

Some people believe in the “spare the rod and spoil the child” school of thought, but others feel there are plenty of non-violent ways to put across a point.

Not if you ask the Beyond Scared Straight producers, though. The hard-hitting series coming to DStv’s Crime & Investigation channel takes the old-school route of “straightening out” badly behaved children. Hard-core prisoners, especially the “lifers”, are asked to give problem children a clear picture of how brutal jail time can be in an effort to deter the kids from committing crimes.

This move was probably done in light of the fact that a lot of children emulate criminals because of the misconceptions about criminal life.

From the way prisoners dress, their tattooed bodies, lingo and chiselled physiques, prison life has been glorified, especially in the movies.

So it helps to have an honest picture of what life really is like behind bars.

When the youth’s role models, especially celebrities, are incarcerated, it is their duty to share true accounts of how hard it was to be in prison.

Maybe after being in a jail for a day, as a visitor, some kids will change their ways, but, sadly, reports show that in some cases the experience only encourages it.

What’s your take on this?

• Beyond Scared Straight premieres tomorrow on Crime & Investigation (DStv channel 255) at 9pm.