WHERE HAVE ALL THE PARENTS GONE?

In New Zealand the amount of serious crimes that are committed by youth are on the rise. As a result of this more and more of New Zealand’s youth are being sentenced to imprisonment for long periods of time.

An example of this is the infamous case of Bailey Junior Kurariki who was 12 when he and a gang of acquaintances killed pizza delivery man Michael Choy by beating him with a baseball bat in September 2001.

Since this incident there have been numerous cases involving young people that have committed senseless crimes that have shocked New Zealand, such as the recent case of 15-year-old Jahche Broughton who bashed 27-year-old Karen Aim to death in a Taupo street in 2008.

According to Ministry of Corrections findings offenders aged 17-20 have the highest recorded rate of offending of all age groups in New Zealand. The types of offences they commit parallel the pattern of offending by adult offenders.

In the blog titled New Zealand Crime Watch which is focussed on discussing how to reduce the crime rate in New Zealand, the blogger criticises former Children’s Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro and her comments opposing the attempt to reduce the age of criminal offending to 12 years which were:

-Youth crime is not out of control because it’s been stable at 23% for the last 5-8 years!

-New Zealanders have to get rid of their punishment mentality

-Early intervention in youth crime is the proven best prevention as seen by our low reoffending rates

The blog criticises the commissioner’s last point by stating the following:

Well Cindy the last point is definitely wrong because whenever there is a violent crime the police only need one description of the suspect. They:

-Have a history of multiple offending going back to pre-teen years

-Have a history of welfare dependence

-Have been brought up being told by white wellington liberals that they are members on an underclass and so they shouldn't be punished

-History of alcohol and drug abuse

In all this chaos the question must be asked where have all the parents gone? Where are the people that are supposed to be teaching these young people that it is wrong and immoral to commit crimes such as murder and rape.

Or is it a case of following in a parent’s footsteps and simply re-enacting the behaviour that they have been exposed to as a means of gaining their parents respect and approval. Maybe society has failed them neglecting to pick up on the signs that can predict id a youth will offend. Perhaps it is the Medias fault through allowing graphic violence to be explicitly portrayed in the movies, television programmes and video games that our young people watch and play.

Whatever the case the reality is that it is happening, and we as a nation cannot stand idly by while young people are committing crimes that see them locked away in a prison cell and people being attacked and murdered for small amounts of money that in no way equate to the worth of a life.

And although the Ministry of Justice recognises that there is a prominent pattern of serious youth offending happening what measures are being put in place to firstly stop these types of crimes being committed and what measure are there to assist offenders while the pay for their crimes in prison

http://www.apcca.org/Pubs/19th/nz-yo.pdf

http://newzealandcrimewatch.blogspot.com/2007/07/half-baked-whacked-out-p-fueled.html