Editorial: Holidays can spell trouble for teens

It's the school holidays - a time when some working parents struggle to organise childcare; when some struggle to keep their children entertained and when youths use their free time having fun.

It's also a time when some youths get into trouble.

Today we have a story about Rotorua police increasing their foot patrols in Rotorua's CBD in a bid to crack down on school holiday crimes.

Police also warn Rotorua residents to keep their valuables locked away. This is because police say they experience an increase in reported crimes in the school holidays - and a number of those crimes are committed by youths on holiday.

Police also say during the school holidays they traditionally notice large groups of youths hanging around the streets and to combat that, increased foot patrols by police officers will take place over the next couple of weeks.

Just because it is the school holidays we should keep an eye on what the youths we know are doing during the holidays.

If they're out and about or hanging with friends, it's important to know exactly how the teens are spending their time.

In a bid to prevent youths getting into trouble, perhaps we should keep them busy and entertained.

None of us want to become victims of a crime of any sort and I'm sure none of us want to see any youths we know get into trouble.

While it can be hard to always know how kids we are responsible for are spending their time, ifwe're not with them, we all have a responsibility to find out.