What chance these crims?

W

HAT’S 9-year-old criminals, Timaru?

Surely not. But yes, and apparently not newcomers to the police. And not just a one-off offence either, like kicking over a letterbox.

This was a mini crime spree. By two 9-year-olds and an 11-year-old. They stole an iPad out of a car, kicked cars, shoplifted, put some blobs of paint on a statue and then hid from police on the roof of the library.

Heck, do you remember what you were up to when you were nine?

And on reading this far you will by now have asked yourself what chance these youngsters have? Is their destiny already defined? Hopefully not, but you’d imagine a fair amount of work would be required to alter their paths, especially if it is the case that their own families can’t.

Ultimately the behaviour of individuals is the responsibility of the individuals, but when they are this young it is also that of the respective families. But that’s in an ideal world, not the one we live in.

So rather than condemn, families might instead need support, and these boys need something to change their lives, whether it be through school, a sport, a mentor.

Every year they don’t get that break from now, the harder any turnaround will be.

Staying with crime, what a good idea that young offenders (although not as young as those above) sentenced to community work are spending some of their time learning new skills.

Skills that may get them a job. Like scaffolding and forklift driving. Sure, other people might grizzle that they have to pay to learn such skills rather than offend, but it’s not like these youths can replace their whole sentence with training. The limit is 20 per cent, and then only if their community work is longer than 80 hours.

But if that limited time leads to a job, or an opening of the eyes and some more training, we all win. Instead of being bored and unemployed and more likely to reoffend, they become taxpayers.

It’s one of those initiatives that is so sensible you wonder why it wasn’t done before. Good stuff.

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