“NOT Just Another Brick in the Wall” (with apologies to Pink Floyd)

2. “NOT Just Another Brick in the Wall” (with apologies to Pink Floyd) RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011 Andrew Becroft Principal Youth Court Judge Te Kaiwhakawa Matua o Te Kooti Taiohi

3. Some Questions For You…? Geography Question: “Name the four seasons ” Salt, Pepper, Mustard and Vinegar RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

4. Some Questions…? Biology Question: “What is artificial respiration commonly known as?” The kiss of death RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

5. Some Questions…? Biology Question: “What is a terminal illness?” When you are sick at the airport RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

6. Some Questions…? English Question: “what does the word ‘benign’ mean? ” Benign is what you will be after you be eight RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

7. Some Questions…? English Question: “Define the word ‘monotony’ ” Monotony is being married to the same person all your life RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

8. Some Questions…? History Question: “What is NZ’s highest award for valour in war ” The Sky Tower RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

9. Some Questions…? Biology Question: “What is the fibula? ” A small lie RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

10. Some Questions…? Biology Question: “Where are the Tibia? ” They live in a country in North Africa RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

11. Some Questions…? Physics Question: “What is a vacuum?” A large empty space where the Pope lives RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

12. A question for RTLBs: “What is Success?” • I read much about better structure, improved management and attention to better and more consistent RTLB practice • BUT….what is a “successful” outcome? • How is RTLB “success” to be “measured”? • If more consistent practice equals “a better deal for students”………what is a “better deal”? RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

13. Some suggested answers… (dreams?) • High needs children (requiring RTLBs) identified very early • All children/young people kept within mainstream education (or participating and engaging with education?) • Exclusions and suspensions dramatically reduced because of RTLB practice? • RTLBs working with individual students and teachers… AND ALSO working with (or ensuring others work with) families and Govt or NGO agencies • Child / youth offending reduced! RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

14. Obsessive?

15. My Central Message • Anecdotally, up to 80% of offenders in Youth Court are not formally “engaged” with, let alone participating in, the education system • Behavioural and learning problems are often at the heart of this “disengagement” • Technically, many are not truants because they are not enrolled at a secondary school from which to truant • Is there a “king-hit” to reduce youth offending? NO! But if there was, keeping every young person actively involved in some form of education until the age of 16 would be an excellent start! • Note: Police figures show 25-30% of youth offending occurs - 9am and 3pm RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

16. RTLBs are builders of resilience in young people Can an RTLB avoid involvement in the five core domains of a young person’s life? • A member of a stable, loving family • Active involvement in education • Positive - “pro-social” friends • Strong & many connections to local community (e.g. sports / cultural and youth groups etc) • Spiritual needs addressed RTLBs are involved in “domain 2”, but can you avoid the other 4 domains? You are a frontline crime-fighting team RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

17. Overview • Four myths about youth justice and child and youth offenders • Ten issues facing young people today, from the perspective of the Youth Court • Some challenges • Conclusion RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

18. The Need for Clarity

19. Myth 1: Youth offending is skyrocketing, or at least increasing • Wrong! • Apprehensions of child and youth offenders are declining, particularly since 2003 • Note: apprehensions are the best measure we have, not necessarily an accurate measure RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

20. Declining Youth Apprehension Rates Police apprehension rates per 10,000 population for non-traffic offences, by age group, 1995 to 2008 Copy goes here copy goes here copy goes here copy goes here copy goes here copy goes here Copy goes here Copy goes here Child and Youth Offending Statistics in New Zealand: 1992-2008. Pub. Ministry of Justice 2010.

21. …but apprehensions for youth violence increasing Police Apprehension rates per 10,000 population of 14 to 16 year olds for all violent offences, 1995 to 2008 Taken from the Child and Youth Offending Statistics in New Zealand: 1992-2008. Pub. Ministry of Justice 2010.

22. Myth 2: All youth offenders are essentially similar • As a generalisation – there are two types of young offenders • Vital that we understand the difference • The “adolescent onset” offender (desisters) • The majority of youth offenders = 80% (?) • But may commit only 20-30% of youth offences • Usually only offend as teenagers • We can work with this group effectively in the community, usually without Youth Court intervention • This group of offenders is usually not charged, but some must be, especially if the offending is serious, albeit isolated RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

23. 14 – 16 Year Olds Charged in the Youth Court 1980 - 2006

24. All youth offenders are essentially similar (cont) • The “early onset” “life-course” “persistent” offender • Small group (5 – 10% of youth offenders) • The unexploded human time-bombs • But may commit up to 50% of youth offences • 1,000 at a minimum • We know their names, and their families are known to many agencies • Comprise about half of those appearing in the Youth Court RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

25. “Persisters” – life course offenders ‘a substantial body of longitudinal research consistently points to a very small group of males who display high rates of antisocial behaviour across time and in diverse situations. The professional nomenclature may change, but the faces remain the same as they drift through successive systems aimed at curbing their deviance: schools, juvenile-justice programs, psychiatric-treatment centers, and prisons’ (1996:15). - Moffit 1996, in “Tough is Not Enough” (2000) RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

26. Otago Youth Wellness TrustAnalysis of Dunedin Youth Offenders: Period 1 Jan 2007 – 31 Dec 2010 Alternative Education (n=33) • 81% male • 49% Maori • 76% CYF care and protection involvement • 100% specialist mental health service involvement • 93% poor school attendance • 86% school suspension / expulsion • 79% attended greater than four secondary schools / training providers • 43% offending started aged less than twelve years • 79% specialist drug and alcohol service involvement • 75% early sexual activity • 34% suicide / attempt / self harm by young person • 46% suicide / attempt / self harm by peer or family member RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

27. Capital & Coast Youth Forensic Services Statistics: 2000 – 2004 n = 276 • 83% Male • Maori over-represented (48%) • 70% faced cannabis and alcohol issues • 16% drug dependent; 14% alcohol dependent • 18% attending school: 28% attending course/training; 45% unemployed • 45% excluded/expelled from school • 55% attended more than one school/transient • 60% in CYFS care at some stage • 12% living with both parents; 28% with one parent RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

28. Characteristics of Young Offenders: England & WalesAn analysis of 4,000 young offenders • 83% Male • 70% from single parent families • 41% regularly truanting • 60% have special educational needs • Over 50% use cannabis • 75% smoke and drink • 75% considered impulsive • 25% at risk of harm as a result of their own behaviour (9% at risk of suicide) RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

29. Myth 3: Young people are simply “junior adults” Recent research shows that frontal lobe development (good judgement etc) is not completed until early - 20s…yet puberty has never started earlier. Adolescence has never lasted so long. “New MRI scanners have looked at the brain over time to see how it matures and several studies have shown quite dramatically that the last parts to mature deal with things like logic, judgement and wisdom. Those x-rays show they may not be mature until people are 25 to 30” – Prof P Gluckman, Liggins Institute Auckland, Sunday Star Times 12/10.2008 RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

31. Youth are always challenging…..! “There are a number of children running about the streets of Dunedin … without the control of parents. If the government does not take them in hand … they will become … members of a criminal class.” RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

32. Youth are always challenging…..! “There is a definite relationship between the increase in the number of children on the streets and the increase in juvenile crime.” First headline from the Otago Daily Times 1884; second in 1886 RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

33. Youth are always challenging…..! “. . . would there were no age between ten and three and twenty or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting…” Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act 3, scene 3 RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

34. Youth are always challenging…..! “What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?” Plato, 4th Century BC RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

35. Youth are always challenging…..! “We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self control.” Inscription, 6000 year-old Egyptian tomb RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

36. Myth 4: Youth justice legislation and policy matches the brain science • What are the policy implications of the relatively recent knowledge about the second growth period or “pruning stage” of the frontal lobe of the teenage brain? • “Improving the Transition – Reducing Social and Psychological Morbidity During Adolescence”, a report from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Prof P Gluckman, May 2011 • Youth law lags behind (does NOT match) the brain science e.g. driving licence age, alcohol supply age, charging 12 / 13 year olds, age mixing of young people with adults, sentencing etc RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

37. Ten Issues facing young people in NZ…the context for RTLBs • Not exhaustive • Through the lens of the Youth Court • At the extreme end – but nevertheless an insight into issues that all teenagers, to some degree, will confront • Most are “laid down” or first emerge during child-hood • What would be your top ten? RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

38. A different perspective…..

39. Slide Title 1. Family

40. 1. Family • Very few serious youth offenders from stable, two-parent, homes • not saying “every solo parent breeds a criminal” • not making judgement about separation • Most serious young offenders lack a positive, male, role model • Family disadvantage, dysfunction, violence and transience usually of fundamental importance RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

41. An issue: parental “passivity” / “helplessness”

42. 2. School Attendance & Participation

43. 2. School Attendance & Participation • “Increasing attendance and participation in school by young people a key factor in reducing anti-social behaviour and offending” • Not all truants/non-enrolled young people offend: but overwhelming majority of offenders are truants or not enrolled • May not be causative; but a clear link exists • Every young person kept at school, alternative education/vocational training is one less potential career criminal RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

44. Learning Disabilities / Conduct Disorder / ADHD / Autism / FASD

45. March 2008 3. Income Inequality; Socio-Economic Disadvantage

46. www.equalitytrust.org.uk How much richer are the richest 20% than the poorest 20%? Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

47. www.equalitytrust.org.uk Child Well-being is Better in More Equal Rich Countries Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)

48. Slide Title 4. Violence

49. Slide Title 4. Violence Don’t forget bullying: No school is exempt! RTLB Conference: Keeping Young People on Track – 5 October 2011

50. Slide Title Female Violence