The Young Offenders Act is characterized by several fundamental principles: youth should take responsibility for their criminal acts; society should be protected from the crimes of young persons and should take steps to prevent youth crimes; and young people have the same rights as adults and require additional legal safeguards to protect those rights. Criticisms of the Young Offenders Act have surfaced, particularly with respect to the way the act deals with young offenders between 12 and 17 years of age and whether the maximum youth court sentence of 5 years is too lenient for serious violent offenses. Changes to the Young Offenders Act have been proposed that deal with the importance of crime prevention and the protection of society, an increase in the maximum youth penalty from 5 to 10 years, the transfer of youth to adult court when the charge involves serious personal injury, victim impact statements, information sharing, community-based responses to youth crime, and criminal records. 1 reference