Are we doing enough to tackle youth crime?

I come from the old school..Board of Education.and when my dad was working his ass off, mother was in control of the board. If she thought you did wrong,you got your ass whippin. Parents who fear their children, need to send them to a military school where they will respect adults and respect themselves. At the age of 17 and as soon as I graduated from school, I was out on my own and that didn't work out so, I joined the Army for 21 years and made a man out of me.

Bill - Sadly you are so right!! BOOT CAMP for the first time they fall off the wagon - and yes sometimes its just part of growing up. Deport the P.I. youth and other foreign youth, the courts will have to deal with the homegrown. The other point I want to make in regards to Maori youth crime is that, surely for Maori their most valued TAONGA is their youth so they need to be part of this solution! Let me see, there's the whanau, the hapu, the iwi, the kamatuas' the kuias' and the MAORI PARTY + the TREATY money. What more is needed to deal with Maori youth crime? Please help your young troubled living TAONGA to be productive, to contribute and live happy healthy lives in Aotearoa.

as a parent i've tried my best to teach my kids the difference between right and wrong, the best laid plans however.... my youngest son got into trouble once at a very young age, two years later he is still being punished by a few and sundry for what he did wrong even though he admitted it and then followed the conditions set out by the police ie. reparation. now he/i have had to make reparation for other childrens mistakes too, his school life has been ruined and the way that he has been treated by authorities has left us entirely disenchanted with proscribed methods, institutions and system practices, there definitely needs to be changes made to the way youth offending is dealt with at both ends of the spectrum

Bronwyn Wilson, we are here to help and seek the truth of both side of the law, if the police are in the wrong and justice will be serve..
Our aim, is to look afer the innocense regardless what position you are in..

John i totally agree with your blog, especially the last bit, if i can quote from a very influential movie i watched as a teenager and that is 'boys in the hood'. It was about youth and the ones who slipped away due to gangs and violence, a very powerful and sad movie. There was a part in the movie that has always stuck in my mind and that is when a probation officer said 'there is a reason that there is a 24 hour liquor store and gun shop on every corner in the ghetto, its because the government has given up on trying to change them so they are just giving them the tools to wipe each other out! We may not have a gun shop on every corner but we sure have a whole bunch of freely-available liquor in dairies, supermarkets, cafes and even at some warehouses, not to mention the liquor stores numbering into the hundreds in south auckland where youth crime is at an all time high. Alcohol will always be responsible for more crimes and domestic violence than any drug, and why is that, its simply because its legal and you dont have to even think twice before buying it. The saying that 'todays youth are tomorrows future' scares the crap out of me when i think what my kids will be growing up in. And to 'Jan' there are no date of births attached to our blog names so how do you know that you were here before any of us others on this screen, thats a big call.

Kids know thier rights, they know that they wont do any time if they kill someone, they know that they cant be touched by anyone and that includes parents. Thjis is what happens when political correctness goes wrong. Especially when kids arent raised properly!!!

The majority of New Zealands youth must have no concious. This is just one example of how "some" of New Zealands youth behave. There may be reasons as to why these two young youth did this to an OLD MAN, however none of these reasons are even close to justify why they done this. Why they done this is just a reminder that sometimes youth act before they realise the consequences of their actions --- which is why in school there should be classes that educate students on life - about good desicion making and what not. These youth, who have commited a sadistic crime, I would say there may be something wrong but I can not say that as I do not know. I beleive that more disciplinary action should be put in place for today's youth, then maybe youth crime will be reduced; we all know that it will probably never stop -- but by putting these actions in place it could well be reduced. So much has changed in todays youth some good and some really bad. There are so many youth crimes that are happening everyday of the year......... WHY???

kiwibybirth, you sound proud of your past. I wouldn't be.

I think it's best to "EXPORT" them to Asia prison to serve their sentence. It is the most cost effective way to save money. I guarantee once they get back to NZ, they won't commit crime again.

*Sigh* Story of my life kiwibybirth. LOL.

Okay so I get your point that to stop youth crime is to deport them back to their country. Im eligible for my opinions and like I said before that I disagree with you but obviously this debate between the two of us isn't going to stop so i'l stop first.

What about youth who were born here in NZ???

Send her to the army and see if she could work it off to why she murdered the old men other from that deport her back to where she comes from, kiwiborn you are no kiwiborn its all full bulls and you are just a flapper so get off the screen..