no i believe that if a youth offends then the youth pays even if it takes the rest of their lives. personally i couldnt care less there is more than enough education out there on what is is wrong or right . that is why the law says you are responsible for your own actions over a certain age no matter what country you live in.

Oh bloody hell! One of those illegal immigrants, that came to Aus illegally was charged with assaulting a woman. These people were supposed to be supervised? Then another ran away then was caught. Some are older people from Asian countries. The labour government has completely lost the plot.

It is the responsibility of us all... the Government, Oranga Tamariki and Society here in NZ! Generational trauma and abuse is a real problem and it is only getting worse sadly

Now we've got nearly a hundred, probably more criminals let loose by the disgraced labour government. Foreign criminals who came here illegally from Asian countries. Not only are they a financial burden but a criminal threat to our society. Yes labour, the leftards governed by albenese, he's let them into the community. The other week one ran away and he's been found. Why isn't he jailed? They need to be sent back to where they all came from They are not Australian citizens. Murderers and violent criminals. It's setting a bad example for our youth to see foreign criminals allowed to be free. The high court should have no say in foreign illegal immigrants. The labour government, who are corrupt, allowed this to happen.

I believe some decades back the parents were held responsible too for their kids behaviour. Now we have goodie, goodie, law enforcement not being able to have a say in the parents and the way they raise their own kids. The social workers and youth lawyers defending these kids rights too much. The law courts too soft. Too many get bail as well.

The worst is when the younger offenders get let off lightly and they keep reoffending. Maybe a 3 or 4 strikes and your out system needs to be brought in. Incarceration should happen if they keep doing it, and depending on the severity of the crimes that they commit. Also hard labour to teach them some discipline . Australia was once a convict nation that gave harsh penalties to those people. They surely knew what punishment was! These youngsters today haven't got a clue. They are not only mentally weak but physically weak, and would not last as long or mentally be able endure what our convicts went through. A generation of people who have been brought up too soft. No wonder some people say put them in the army, or some other thing that might test them. I'm sure most wouldn't be able to cope, even those that aren't criminals. If WW3 broke out then we would have problems. They would not be able to cope with the stress, they would be trying to resist defending their country. That's what cowards are made of unfortunately.

Queensland and Victoria seems to be the crime capital of Australia these days . More crime being committed than ever. It would not have anything to do with foreign imports would it?

all parents with kids under 18 are responsible and should pay the childs debts i b--- would ,but my kids [3] would cost me $nil

I think parents should be liable for damages and tax payers responsible for rehabilitation or counseling etc. as a functioning society or safe neighbourhood is everyone's concern. Also I think youths need to learn how to add value to communities rather than take it away. Communities were so much more tight knit around 40 years ago and beyond (even 30 years if you come from a small town). We've drifted apart as our population has increased overall and it feels like the 'everyone fend for yourself' or 'its a dog eat dog world' culture has become prevalent. Also consumerism encourages us to regard material possessions highly while other values are less cool example - to kids a plastic shoe with a specific brand is cooler than a handmade bag from eco friendly materials. Youth offenders have valuable knowledge on how they end up the way they do so they should be encouraged and assisted to pursue careers that can help other youth offenders such as rehabilitation, councilling, teachers etc. as they would understand more and be most adept at recognising troubled youths, plus they also gain a career path that adds value to society.Edited 19-Sep-22 09:27am

Before judging a criminal YOUTH you MUST first look at why that youth acts that way and then help that youth to overcome that cause so they can become a better person. SOME CAUSES ARE:- 1) Drug addiction so they desperately need money for their next fix or to pay a drug debt to avoid being beaten up or killed. 2) Violence in the home ( even parents who argue a lot ) can lead young people to think it is normal behavior 3) Peer pressure from other youths or to be part of the "In Crowd" 4) Some refugees ( NOT ALL ) come from countries where there is lots of violence and / or are poor and stealing is the normal way of life for them to survive then they immigrate to other countries only knowing that old way of life because the authorities do not teach them that they DO NOT have to behave that way in the new country they are in. These are just some of the many causes of youth crime. To eradicate youth crime the authorities MUST deal with the cause.

If your 18 at least you can go to an adult jail. You can go to a pub. You can drive, etc. You are considered an adult at 18. The welfare system might classify you as being still under your parents thumb up until the age of 25, and possibly being a student... if you are going to university. At 18 you are old enough to go to a doctor by yourself. Fill out a tax return. Vote in an election. Stop making excuses for them. They are officially declared a adult at 18, and no difference to when i was that age.

I may point out also that youth is classed up to the age of 25 yrs in Australia courts and mental health system.yet on the news they will report an 18 yr old man lost control of his car and died. Any parent would know that's not yet a man .So what are parent's meant to to do when the police say oh we can't tell u why your son was here.( over 18) or been unconscious in an emergency ward from drugs .All under the privacy act.?? Yet you are the one stressing over everything,supporting them,sitting in dr's offices discussing their personal lives you hoped to God would never happen and making sure he is at home and safe as much as you can? I was told I was the strictest parent in the whole school and I never let him do anything. laughed a little bit and people said take it as a compliment. All I have ever been told is how well mannered and lovely he was.Still ends up with troubles. Well obviously not all parents are to blame are they ?! Parents pay tax too ,surprisingly yes even single ones.Which in turn pays towards other things that all you other big noting tax payers use as well .

Agree with you that children's transgressions should be paid for by the parents cause they 'taught' them to do whatever it is they are doing.

It is not taxpayers that should do something about it. I think harsher punishments are needed for young criminals. They should not be able to get away with unlawful activities every single time.

what would happen if the parents were held to repay the victims of the youth crimes ???

Question is asked oddly. But parents are the ultimate responsible party.

I think the courts are far too lenient on youth offenders. Parents should shoulder more of the responsibility for what their children do. Skipping school seems to be of epidemic proportions so stopping that might be a good start. Why are their names withheld just because of their age? Publish the names and shame the parents. Let the community see what a terrible job they have done in rearing their children. Sometimes I feel it's sad that we got rid of the Stocks. A bit of shame and humiliation goes a long way.

No one has the intestinal fortitude to solve this problem.Too many PC people out there to resolve it . Its all in the genes.

No comment. Youth offenders think they can do whatever they want without realising the consequences.

I'm not a tax payer, but I am a parent, and I whole heartedly believe that it is completely up to the parents to deal with this issue and accept responsibility! Why should an innocent hard working person have to fit the bill to support these kids that aren't even related or known to these poor people! They pay taxes for a reason, not to look after other people's responsibilities.

Their parents should be responsible for them. Not taxpayers. That would make the parents more accountable

Some of the youth offenders don't have the guidance of responsible parents.So Rosina K you can only be compassionate if you owned a mansion .There are a lot of compassionate tax payers out there & there are also a lot of income earners who do NOT pay tax.That is the world we live in .

I hear they were trialling banning mobile phones in some classrooms with success.um well could THAT be one little issue maybe? World's gone soft. MAD Too many kids are shunted from one activity to another,causing anxieties ,over tiredness .parents with their own screen time taking up their lives,all gets too much. The simple life was better,before all the hard drugs were so easy to get too.its a big scary mess for our kids out there today.I support taxpayers $$ paying for mental health support services,i see a lot of youth struggling and not violent types.but still managed to get into some type of trouble( driving offence gambling or drugs etc)

Make a bad choice, do the wrong thing...EXPECT a consequence !!!!!

The taxpayer should not be paying for other peoples Children. We all have a choice if we want children or not. Jacinda seems to think that it is good to pay people to have kids, then the taxpayer has to pay to house and feed a lot of them. I have a dog which is better behaved than most kids, I didn't get special leave to have him, or free food if I spend all my money on drugs, smokes, alcohol or anything else I fancy!!

Do like Singapore they would know what to expect

Who created the world these young people growing into? In my opinion that’s the question.

Whoever the young offenders are, they don't seem to bloody realize there will be serious consequences for their actions!! But obviously they're too far gone into a life of crime that they're hooked into. Very bad times indeed!!

No I don't believe that it is the responsibility of taxpayers to support youth offenders. These kids are getting younger and younger all the time - 12 and 14 year olds stealing cars and end up smashing them and hurting other road users. It is time that these kids have to face up to you do the crime you pay the time. In America a few years ago they had the answer - put these kids in jail with the roughest of prisoners who would tell them what would happen to them if they ended up in jail. I believe this had an effect on the young offenders and it scared the living hell out of them.

I don't know what the alternative is as they obviously have waste of space parents or they wouldn't commit such crimes. Breaking the cycle is a start but that is always said by governments but only acted on in the merest of fashions.Edited 17-Sep-22 18:05pm

Kids these days do not have respect that we had growing up

Kids are no different today to what they were 50 years ago. They do need parent control while growing up. If they to be disciplined do it the old fashioned way across the knee and out with the strap. They will learn respect

Most likely the parents have no control over their kids, no parental skills and possibly drug addicts and alcoholics

surely offenders of any age are responsibler for their own actions,

It's a duel responsibility. Governments introduce laws t protect kids but there are no consequences for the wrongdoing. Maybe something like an eye for an eye for example they forfeit something of value to them help pay for their crime.

I suggest a "boot camp" for undisciplined youth offenders that get caught doing something terribly wrong. This would help them focus on becoming a better citizen in life for the long run. Yes, taxpayers may have to support these youth in a rehabilitation youth camp. They should end up, better citizens once they have completed the disciplined training schedule. This is for out of control youth adolescents, particularly teenagers who have offending problems & other personal problems that affect society at large. They need some help in there lives.

it is definitely getting worse with these problems

Parents need to take full responsibility and bring there children them up properly. If you want children, then you need to teach them values, responsibilities and discipline etc. If you don't care about your kids, then they will go wild and get out of control. It all starts from the home life.

No it should not be up to the tax payers adult crime adult time

Apparently, some of the lefties in Australia want to lower the legal age of responsibility to 14...whereas its currently ten years. Some of the indigenous advocacy groups are calling for that as well. Bad!Edited 17-Sep-22 14:04pm

Not always the parents faults I know from experience had 6 kids n the eldest led us a merry dance with legal troubles other 5 no dealings at all. Some kids are just insane risk takers n flaunt all authority which is very hard ..

The village is broken and as these youthful beings go through their "Adolescent Age stage" the oldies, who previously used to "kick them up the backside" and if they complained they just got the same treatment from the next person till the message reached their scrambled upstairs compartment. But that was when things were simple, swift action as required, not saved up and dealt with weeks later by which time they have been "tutored" by the system that has bound and parents so they are no longer the guardians of their children's safe passage through life .. their once loving children have been coached by the welfare system regarding "their rights" which just about makes it impossible to salvage any form of normal family life as the situation more often than not is aggressive, hostile and can become so dangerous that you just don't know what can happen in just a split second especially if drugs are involved, because they have a right to do anything they want!!!

No they get away with a lot ,and to many parents seem the government has the responsibility of the children upbringing.

Too many youths are following their mothers and fathers into crime due to poverty and drug addictions. Too many parents seem to think that "the Government" has the responsibility of their children's upbringing.

Too many kids are now running riot. Stealing cars,break and enter, assaults. Bashing at schools. In my day if you done wrong it was a kick up the rear end and a belting. Kids know that they can’t get the cane etc so no punishment

I agree parents should be held responsible for their children's doings and it would make sense. Problem is even the poorer people can and do have children, they just don't care what their teenage child is or what they are doing. That saddens me but that shouldn't make them criminals which some do become. We are all taught right from wrong from a young age. They are stealing cars at the age of 10 or 12 when I was that age all I wanted to do was swim in the neighbourhood pools and catch crabs, definitely not stealing cars. This is where we need to help and support youths and maybe some boot camps would also be very useful to every one. Help get them off the streets and out of boredom because this is when they do the most damage.

People are so quick to blame the parents for their out of control children and even though some parents shoulder responsibility we need to take a look around us at a few things. How many parents have been to a community meeting and brought up the fact we have taken everything away from our children and we need good clean fun places for our children to go with their friends and unwind a little. I no that where i live a man opened a teen club to bring in new bands to play for the teens and they only served sodas and juice and a few snack items and the place was building up because the kids could dance and talk and laugh, just let go without drugs and alchol backing them. The city shut it down because they couldn't take the kids standing around inside or outside so sorry guys but you will have to go somewhere else. Then another man found an old warehouse and started a skate boarding park which was really nice and again the city shut it down. Skating rink with pool tables also shut down. Movies are great but even that gets old. Going to church is great and i very much agree but even the church can't keep your children occupied all the time. So when their is nothing else to do they get into trouble, drugs and alchol are a past time now with these kids but we need to look at the whole picture and think back to when we were young. Get involved in your community and change things.

RESPECT should be instilled from childhood. Respect for themselves, all other people and property. Parents need to be aware of anti-social behaviour, and take responsibility and further educate the youngsters to behave in an appropriate way.

I don’t mind offending youth….lol

Parents should be responsible for their children. Adult prison would sort them out quick smart!

Bullets are cheap.

Simply put because the tate will not allow you to discipline your kids. You withdraw a privilege from a disobedient child they run to Children Services and complain where they are given a place to live and do as they please. If you are silly enough to smack a child you'll go to jail for Attempted Grievous Bodily Harm and the Complete Idiot Social Workers will be telling everyone how ABUSDED THAT THE CHILD WAS till they turn around and stab the Social Worker but anyone else is OK because the child has been damaged by an overbearing parent. If you actually look at most of the offenders you'll find that they are in State Care and are allowed to run rampant by the Social Workers who tell them what can not be done to them and they are free to do as they please. When you withdraw the rights of the parents the kids run out of control paid for by everyone and controlled by no one.

Parents aren't allowed to discipline, what can you expect.

Some should be put into some sort of physcho wards to get themselves sorted out and parents pay.

Bring back Borstal's

Yes tough love starts at home. We can all talk until the stars fall down, because everyone think they are expert in solving this issue. It's gone way pass the family level. youth crime is now a national wide problem. From the leader to the politicians and the police to the community and the family and the parents. Can we find the roots of this problem. Yes NEGLECTING FROM TODDLERS TO EENAGERS,. PARENTS AND CHILDREN DO NOT SEE EYE TO EYE ON SOME MATTERS OF GROWING UP, SO TOUGH LOVE. WIDE RANGES OF THINGS YOU CAN ADMINISTER

Id love to know how many of these young criminals come from migrant families? I keep seeing names crop up on news- sites about people with foreign backgrounds or their parents of a foreign backgrounds. I remember reading in the sun herald, paper, around 5 or 6, years back, about the African gang violence, in Melbourne. Dan Andrews's came our blasting the media for reporting on it. Hes a piece of lying shi* because the media and others told the truth. Yes. People from certain ethnic backgrounds do seem to have a higher representation in our juvenile courts. It makes you wonder about the intelligence of the parents!Edited 17-Sep-22 11:01am

Parents should take some responsibility

Do parents collectively as a group...realise who pays for the justice system? They are costing the community billions of dollars. You have a duty to keep your kids safe, on and offline. You pay for your kids legal fees if they get into trouble. Most get represented by free lawyers, paid for by the government funded legal aid. I think some parents just have kids for the welfare, the government gives them in family payments.

no I don't agree. Sometimes the best parents have out of control kids. Teaching rights and responsibilites from a young age certainly helps, but there is not guarantee sadly.

No matter how bad I was as a youth my parents never gave up on me and I turned out alright in the end thanks to their tough love

Everybody adult and children have rights but this also comes with responsibility. Actions at a family level and in the larger community level are needed. As they say it takes a community.

Some people waste so much time studying parents instead of actually getting the facts and listening properly!! you only hear what you want in life and from what you lived or experienced!! So how can you make such a stupid comments and careless ones that have no facts proof or substance in it!!!Very ignorant life just hasn't given you those experience yet perhaps the universe might now give you some to gain insight before making such harsh judgements in the parents!!!

The system took Good parents accountabilities/ responsibilities away, they trained schools to politicize - THE ALL CARE NO RESPONSIBILITY came into being, They wanted double the work force, so took women outta the home to pay tax, who was left to breed but poorly educated and equity young adults. Recipe for Dezarster. Nothing to do with culture or class...It is A POOR NATIONAL ATTITUDE. We must get back on track. We must honour The basic s Lets GIVE Parents The Tools to be able to MANAGE THEIR Young, it is NOT ABOUT MONEY. It is about Values....Self respect. etc .... Too often "Monkey see monkey do". sorry but I feel ..., We inherited a dog, our Education set up takes our children from us daily, therefore it is a TEAM OF 5 million who now need to GET THIS PROBLEM Remedied. were all in this, it is the whole nations problem to address. enough blame placing. and teeth nashing. National attitude and pride needs a BIG WAKE UP.

OK just to make myself very clear I have known parents of murderers and they were respected members of the community nurses teaches welfare workers who went out in the world to work and look after other peoples children who are traumatized from child abuse or neglect because their parents were drug addictions or was abused from their parents or sick people!!!You can't blame parents for how kids turn out think about this scenario a woman goes to work leaves her child with other parent or family members not knowing that those people abuse her child for several years secretly the child can't tell anyone in fear and goes act out doing criminal behaviors to mask the pain!!!!you can't blame parents especially the one who didn't know and went out to help other peoples problems and was abused in their job!!!Some youth offenders just meet the wrong people or are taken advantage of by opportunistic adults who see their vulnerabilities like organised crime for profit Be very careful making statements about things you know little about!! Anyone child can become a victim work as pimps or be utilized for sexual crimes

With the stupid laws saying children can get away with anything make the parents pay & stop costing responsible people money

Join the army or go to boot camp. Used to happen shoulf go back to that.

Jacinda just keeps smiling and saying " Be kind " and "We are One" whilst the offending continues on and on and on.

I think it should be the parents responsibility

Rosina K, you ask the very questions which the Social Workers, the Magistrates, the Police and the politicians persistently refuse to address. "Where are the Parents of these young people and what are they doing whilst Their Children are getting into trouble?" Why are they not being asked to and required to take Full responsibility for Their Children? Why are they not being held to account? Yes, we hear all the arguments about Domestic Violence, Drugs, Alcohol, Disfunction, Child Sex Abuse but NO-one seems to want to do anything about all that. It is all used as an excuse by the very people who claim to be so concerned to justify what those Children are doing. They quite simply do not want to address the basic issue: Parental Irresponsibility.

I think it is up to the offender and their parents to pay for their taxes and court cost and being locked up. They commit the crime, they pay the fine.

I think the youth offender's parents and their attorney should pay for the taxes for their court cost and being lock up.

Bring back hard Labour if you work them 18 hrs a day while in custody they would have no time to cause problems while in custody and would more than likely think TWICE next time they go to do something Stupid !

Parents need to be responsible, All need to be taught you are responsible for your own actions, each action has a consequence. All offender need to be made to pay restitution. Prison/borstal is not the way to solve the issue that just teaches more bad behavior. Not sure what the full answer is, but got to be better than is happening now

parent need to be take to court and charge, parent get the costs not tax payers

It makes you wonder why they bother breeding? Single parents are some of the worst.Edited 17-Sep-22 07:51am

Make parents pay fiancially for their kids to go to court. Kids who committed serious crimes need to pay back society for what they have done. Instead of just throwing them in youth detention centres make them do community service. The detention services don't seem to work well. If they kill someone or seriously harm, they need to be detained for some years if under 18, but other bad crimes should be dealt with by other means. Stealing, petty crimes, work orders should be in place. I knew of someone who got in trouble over drugs, he was an adult, but he had to mow lawns for older people, and that was part of his punishment. Tougher sentences for those over 17 are needed as they will then be tried as adults, and under 18. Education for mothers will help as well.

laws need to be changed do the crime do the time , every case is probably different but in the end, you are responsible for yourself, and the kids that do crimes put them to work in society somewhere, there has to be a suitable punishment for the crime let them see and work with the victims of there crime if that doesn't wake them up maybe a stint in a foreign world to them might help,boot camps so to speek

Regrettably their lack of education and in many cases low mental ability maybe due to fetal alcohol syndrome and drugs and other reasons are the root cause of the problems. The solution - very hard, but needs firm policies like work gangs clearing weeds and litter. Give them options with rewards and a firm hand. A job for ex army ncos maybe to supervise.

Every crime committed is a cost to society that all tax payers contribute toward. Not certain youth offenders need special treatment. Though have no doubt, Maori tikanga is the answer to all human woe.... I mean, have you ever heard off a Maori youth offender...?

Not all parents are to blame. Your house, your rules, you pay the bills. Know their mates and their parents, set boundaries and curfews. Get them part time jobs, idle hands are the devil's workshop. Social media is partly responsible, idiotic dares, luxury lifestyles, influencers, etc. I told our sons' if you ever get in trouble don't worry about the police, worry about ME! Has worked a treat, 19 and 20 now, never been in trouble. I think the sheer thought of me embarrassing them and having an absolute meltdown was enough of a deterrent.

In my city We are experiencing a lot of ram raids, organised by gangs, but kids as young as 12 carry them out. Id say these are the lost kids, with dreadful parents, probably kids themselves with gang affiliations. Not a lot of hope in this situation.

As you said the parents created them how can they possibly be responsible for them. They are not being encouraged or told they are able to do many things. There needs to be programs to put these kids on the right track. How many of us have not made bad choices. We should not have their lives ruined without trying to help them get on the right track.

I think parents aren't allowed to parent anymore the government has taken any ways of disapline away from parents in exchange for a more softly softly approach teaching young people that they can do anything and just get a little slap on the wrist

The old saying, idle hands are the devils work, children as young as eight involved in ram raids, where are the parents? To answer that I can only rely on my casual observations and it ain’t good, inter generational welfare dependency, no goals apart from getting smashed on whatever the latest drug of choice is or what ever the area’s street gang has available, no role models the fathers of kids is generally not in the picture, be they in the big house or in some other geographical locale, a succession of “uncles” paraded through their lives and what passes for a home (government supplied), so yip the children that are out there committing crimes are a product of both nature and nurture just not in a good way.

It should be that the parents of youth offenders should be made to pay for the services that their children find themselves in when they break the law. It seems to becoming a larger problem especially with ramraiding vehicles into shop frontages. I hear on the radio that the offenders of these crimes are young people. Maybe some parents need to be taught how to bring children up and it may help the load on jails etc. at a later time. This is where a sport, art dance or music could help with the government paying for the extra curriculum after school. Give the children the opportunity to choose. They need to be outdoors for some activity and not connected to their phones or game machines like xbox or the like.

Instead of putting these offenders in jail I would place them in the Army. Then maybe they might get the right discipline that their parents were not able to give them.

I cannot be objective. I believe it is the responsibility of society to hold parents accountable for the raising of their children (till the child turns 18) - with severe consequences (long jail sentences) for parent(s) and their child(s) - when "serious crimes" are committed by their child. I was a youth offender (my crimes were never against people but against property). So, when I got caught - I was always given probation - as a youth and later as an adult. Still, having kids was never on my personal agenda. I NEVER have kids (a side benefit of being a youth offender) - since I NEVER had role models for raising kids!Edited 17-Sep-22 12:19pm

I think there has to be consequences and from a young age not this soft handling. I do not mean abusive responses of course. However, how often do we see young kids/teens who have done some horendous act like killing Alpacas for instance and walking out of court with no consequences and just smirk. They will commit more crimes 100%. Yes getting kids into sports is great, getting parents to be involved would be ideal but in todays society it does not always follow through. Kids would rather sit in front of a screen than play sport. Parents in many cases are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table so both have to work. Discipline has been taken out of the schools and out of parents hands in many cases. I do not think a quick smack on the behind would hurt any child once in a while when they push too far and when talking does not work. Sometimes take the screens away from them and double or triple down if they talk back etc. Consequences for their actions good and bad are necessary tools for raising children.

Not sure what you are talking about..you want to have a mansion full of youth offenders?

Parents should be held responsible. It should not fall back on government money. You have them so its you alone who is responsible for how they turn out. Give back more responsibility to the parents and demand they do their job. If they are drugged parents then they are misfits of society. Unfortunately some kids have to be removed because the parents are screwed. Some parents just shouldn't breed.

Some children don’t have healthy home lives and if the parents are on drugs or drinking it’s going to end badly for the child . It all starts with the parents! Other bad influences at school sometimes sends them down the wrong path ! I think a camp of some kind that teaches them life skills ! If there out of control then boot camp ! Make them learn to operate machinery give them tickets to operate machines ie fork lifts loaders bulldozers ect ! Mechanics and females sewing ect etiquette music art ect

Youth of today are committing very serious crimes and the laws aren't tough enough and parents these days are restricted in how they go about punishment. Therefore you have crime which goes with the territory. Fortunately my family kept out of trouble but were kept occupied with sport and us parents also got involved.

Send them to boot camp for a month, I would have back in the day if my daughter was an offender. Fortunately she wasnt and is 28 years old now and a law abiding citizen.

Yes. It is the parents responsibility.