Mamas, Don't Let Yer Babies Grow Up to Be Snitches

A Georgia high school is signing on to a program to financially reward students ($100-$500) who inform on other students in possession of guns or drugs or who commit other offenses. Now, I'm not particularly opposed to the idea of convincing kids to report crimes (although there are certainly arguments against that), but what really bothers me about this is the messages being sent. First, rather than encouraging kids to "do the right thing," the school is teaching them early on that the only reason to do good is for your own monetary reward. That isn't quite so bad (I don't believe in altruism - every action has a selfish motive) as the other message, which is that snitching is good.

The federal criminal justice system (at least in drug prosecutions) would grind to a halt if defendants wouldn't roll on their friends. Again, that doesn't sound so bad, but consider that this perversely rewards those who are the most culpable because they have the most information to give. Therefore, your higher level dealer/manager will make out better than a first-time street level dealer who doesn't have anybody else to snitch on. A reliance on snitching breeds expectations on the part of those charged with offenses, which sometimes leads to misrepresentations or flat out lies in order to obtain a benefit.

I just hope that by encouraging these kids to rat out their buddies with the prospect of quick cash doesn't overshadow other points of views.