This article is from page 16 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
revealed how young children were wreaking havoc in communi- ties across the county.
Drug abuse, robbing other chil- dren, damaging schools and cars and intimidating others were among the main offences for which young chil- dren were caught.
Children from the age of just seven are getting involved in crime. While those very young children mainly engage in petty crime, the serious- ness of the offences intensifies as those children progress to their early Kote he
The problems grow when young children get their hands on illegal drugs and they then lose all control.
Agencies say that factors including lack of parental control and lack of suitable community services con-
tribute to the problems facing young children at risk. The children’s court is testament to
this on a weekly basis. One particu- lar tragic case in recent weeks once again highlighted the failings in the
system. A 16-year-old boy from Ennis re- turned to his home, having spent
over a year at Oberstown boys centre for young offenders.
The boy, who has at least two dozen previous convictions, deteriorated quickly after his release to his fam- ily home.
It wasn’t long before he began to re- offend and quickly found himself in court, after he broke into a business in Ennis and kicking mirrors on two cars in his neighbourhood.
The boy’s mother didn’t attend the court sitting and both the State and the boy’s solicitor expressed their concerns that she didn’t turn up to support the teen.
A member of staff at the boys’ cen- tre spoke out and said the boy had made significant progress at Obers- town, but a lot of the good work was undone, on his discharge from there.
There was demand for his bed and Oberstown staff felt they had “exhausted” what they could do for him.
Clare Youth Services agreed that there was no support for the boy at home. He was sentenced to a term at St Patrick’s Institution.
His case highlighted inadequacies in the family system, but every case is different. One thread is constant in the majority of young troublemakers’ cases – some aspect of society has failed. An overhaul is long overdue.