Editorial: Parents pivotal to fighting crime

Principal Youth Court judge Andrew Becroft's description of teachers as "firstline crime fighters" with the best chance of helping youths out of a cycle of crime is bound to concern those working in the eduction sector.

Judge Becroft made the comments at a board of trustees conference over the weekend.

He wants school boards to try to keep every child actively involved in education, before resorting to expelling or excluding troubled students.

There were 10 key issues impacting the lives of young people, from income equality, to violence, drug use, and a lack of community connectedness.

However, keeping young people actively involved in education is the best chance of a "king hit" to reduce youth offending, he says. About a third of the young people who went before a court were not at school.

Judge Becroft also called for school boards to think carefully about the effects of the expulsion and exclusion of students - research shows that attendance in school is better than psychological intervention and better than counselling for keeping young people out of trouble.

He argues that a problem pupil removed is a problem solved for that school, but not for our communities. It's simply relocated. While noting schools appear to be up for the challenge, he acknowledges they needed more resources to be able to provide for pupils "lost in the system".

It's hard to argue with Judge Becroft's view that a troubled young person is less likely to commit crimes in the community if they are attending school.

The problem is these youths can also be extremely disruptive in the classroom - often to the point where their behaviour impacts on their classmates' learning opportunities.

As Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan points out, school boards have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff at school and to meet the expectations of parents and the community for teaching and learning to occur.

"Unfortunately, there are behaviours that mean this health and safety cannot be guaranteed and ultimately decisions are made to ensure the wellbeing of the majority of students."

Schools need to balance the needs of individual students with that of the class and school as a whole.

Ultimately, if a pupil's behaviour is seriously disruptive and they consistently refuse to abide by the rules, then a school has little option but to exclude them.

The expulsion and exclusion of a student is a last resort for schools and usually comes after other options for keeping a student on track have failed. It ensures the school can maintain standards within the school grounds.

Youth offending is a complex issue, involving all facets of the community.

However, in saying this, it seems schools are once again being asked to shoulder more than their fair share of a wider problem. The real "firstline crime fighters" are parents. It is up to parents to ensure their children have a sense of social responsibility and do not fall into a cycle of crime.