KEY POINTS:
Up to 80 per cent of teenage offenders have drug or alcohol problems, 70 per cent aren't enrolled in any form of education and the rate of violent youth crime is rising steadily.
Those alarming statistics were released yesterday by the country's top Youth Court judge Andrew Becroft at the 25th Anniversary Bluelight Conference, alongside some very simple suggestions on how to combat the growing problem.
The key to preventing youth crime, according to Judge Becroft and several other guest speakers, lies in providing children with good role models and keeping them in some form of education for as long as possible.
The messages were not rocket science but reinforced what most youth workers already know - too many young offenders come from broken homes and have never had a good role model to look up to.
Auckland Mayor John Banks told conference delegates that it was 45-years ago today that his own parents were convicted and sentenced in the Auckland High Court on serious charges.
"My father had spent a lifetime in jail ... but it didn't make me a criminal," he said.
Mr Banks said he was out of work and luck and could have taken the same path as his parents but instead relied on the values installed in him at Sunday school to make the most of his life.
"I was taught at a Sunday school the difference between right and wrong."
Mr Banks' message - the need for good models who can make a difference in young people's lives - was repeatedly echoed throughout the first day of the three-day conference which will look at youth issues and the role Bluelight plays in building positive relationships with children.
Judge Becroft said while the overall rate of youth offending was stable, youth violence - things like serious assaults - had increased during the past three years.
He said there were four key areas to a young person's life - family, peers/friends, community and education - and those were the things that authorities needed to be working on to prevent youth crime.
While there was no "magic bullet" when it came to keeping youth out of trouble, Judge Becroft said education was a good starting point.
"There's not a pill that we can give out with a glass of water in the Youth Court but I think a good place to start in the here and now is to get every young person meaningfully involved in education of some sort ... it's absolutely crucial."
Police Commissioner Howard Broad reiterated the "real and ongoing need" for role models to work with young people. He said staff involved in Bluelight did just that every time they ran an event, be it a Bluelight Disco or one of the many other initiatives they are involved in.
Bluelight chief operating officer Brendon Crompton said the recently started Warriors Against Bullying project in schools was a good example of Bluelight putting positive role models in front of children.
YOUTH OFFENDERS
* 83 per cent are male but number of violent young female offenders is rising.
* At least 50 per cent are Maori.
* Up to 80 per cent of youth offenders have drug or alcohol problems.
* Up to 70 per cent aren't enrolled at school.
* Most have dysfunctional and disadvantaged families and lack positive male role models.
* 60 young people sent to adult prisons each year, 300 placed into youth residential programmes.
* The overall youth crime rate is stable but violent youth crime has risen steadily for the past three years.
BLUELIGHT
* Celebrating 25th Anniversary in New Zealand with a three-day conference in Auckland.
* Bluelight provides drug and alcohol free activities for youth - keeping them off the streets and out of trouble - while also providing positive role models and building better relationships between police and youth.
* Bluelight activities include discos, Rainbow's End fun days, Fear Factor-type challenges and fishing competitions. There is a scholarship available to help students into further education, the Warriors anti-bullying programme in schools and Bryan and Bobby television show.
