15th June Edition 2023

YOUTH CRIME

Firstly, I am not an authority in regards to youth crime. I am not a professional in any field related to the management of youth or youth crime. I am merely a concerned citizen, long past retirement age, who feels that a lot of what has transpired in recent decades needs to be urgently addressed.

I am a father and stepfather of three children, fortunately, none of whom were required to spend any time at Her (His) Majesty’s pleasure.  One of those children served 20 years as a police officer, until he retired after losing confidence in the legislative and judicial services.

I believe that the current issues surrounding youth crime have their beginnings about 60 years ago. At that time there began a whole raft of changes to the philosophy of child raising. The “do-gooders” and civil libertarians forced on us a whole school of thought that considered children had the right to a free form lifestyle. This lifestyle, supposedly, was to emphasize the need for children to learn to use their own imagination, to explore any boundaries without the threat of any consequences or punishment. 

Parents, teachers and police were restricted by law, and by social expectations, from carrying out any form of discipline. Children soon learned that they had free rein and, in a lot of cases, grew up without any form of parental control. It is these individuals that are presenting us with the problems today.

At this point it is likely that most of the offenders today, are the result of two or more generations of parents not knowing how to discipline their children, or not being allowed. So the problem just compounds itself, and will continue to do so.

Looking back at my childhood in the 1950s, in a working family environment that did not include many luxuries, but did include love and discipline, I had my share of discipline. As a child, my siblings and myself were disciplined when it was appropriate, and sometimes severely. We all knew the consequences of transgressions large and small and knew what the relevant punishment would be. We soon learned what was right and what was wrong. The discipline was only carried out after we had been given a lesson in what we had done wrong and why punishment was required. 

My father had a greenhide, (leather), strip about half a metre long that hung in plain view outside the bathroom. That strip was only used sparingly, and only when we really needed it. We did not live in fear of it but rather looked at it and used it as a reminder.

There is currently much debate centered on the legal age of responsibility. The legal thinking is that someone under sixteen can not differentiate between right and wrong. To say that someone under 16, who illegally enters a residence, steals a motor vehicle, causes significant damage and threatens life, does not know that they are doing wrong, is, quite plainly, idiotic in the extreme. 

I know with the utmost certainty that by age ten I had a good understanding of the basic concept of right and wrong. I may not have been able to argue the legal points of manslaughter and murder, or the finer points of tax fraud, but I knew that it was wrong to steal a car, and if I did so, I would be punished. I knew that I could probably get away with grabbing an apple from an overhanging tree, but I would not get away with bringing a wheelbarrow and filling it up with stolen apples.

It is obvious that a large proportion of the youth today have little respect for any form of authority. They do not have any respect for their parents, teachers, family, police, or the community generally. That was something that was instilled into me at an early age. My father’s threat of taking me around the corner to have a talk with the police sergeant never eventuated. But I have remembered the discussion ever since.

A senior police officer recently stated on the television that social, as well as the mainstream media, had a responsibility to deny teenage criminals a platform for boasting about their crimes. The recent display on TV news of a group of juveniles, in a stolen car, being followed by a large group of police cars, in a slow speed pursuit, blatantly showing themselves posting onto social media, was sickening. It was obvious that the police were staying back and did not want to engage with the offenders through some fear of upsetting their fragile personalities.

I totally agree with this officer that social media, in particular, should be held to account in this regard. Mainstream media, television etc, must be allowed to provide legitimate news, but should not overly serve to inflate the offenders’ egos.

This whole problem is multi-faceted and requires many different approaches, but one thing is apparent, what we did fifty or 60 years ago needs to be reversed. Parents, teachers, police and the broader community need to be given back control over their children. The root cause of juvenile crime, in all its forms, commences when parents lose control of their ability to discipline their children. 

Darrel Woodhouse

Poor town planning decisions

I'm guessing that streets in Urangan are under the umbrella of the Fraser Coast Council.

I noticed there has been some new work carried out at the intersection of Pulgul and Moolyyir Sts and I believe Town Planning must have put a lot of thought into this one.

There is a pedestrian crossing incorporated into a speed hump on each side of the intersection, 4 in total; it takes a bit of driving to get around the corner. I didn't think there was that much traffic and pedestrians down that end of town.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but it just seems like another blatant waste of rate payers money.

R Gibson – Torquay

Show public holiday

I'm sorry you feel the Fraser Coast doesn't need a public holiday for the show so the people that do work can attend this once a year event.

I took my grandchildren every year until they were old enough to take themselves.

When you work most of your life, having that public holiday is like winning the lottery.

Jann Serdiuk

Youth Crime

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Youth Rehabilitation is necessary for the long term benefit to society. Why we neglect our poor and vulnerable youth is a blight on society. Most offenders come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents don’t have sufficient funds to engage their young in sport or other meaningful pursuits. Money is not the root of all evil, it is lack of money which creates these problems.

Susan Fraser - Hervey Bay