Writing -- Baby Talk: The buck stops here

The following article featured in a weekly column on parenting in the Women on Wednesday supplement of The Evening Echo, one of Ireland's leading regional daily newspapers. It appeared in the 30 June 2004 issue.

We've all heard about them… gangs of unruly children, some as young as ten, roaming the streets, damaging property and generally making residents lives a misery. Untouchable, unafraid and unrepentant - these young villains consider themselves above the law. They have no respect for themselves, none for their parents and simply don't acknowledge any form of authority.

If you read the papers you can't help but notice stories about the shocking increase in child crime - but the headlines, thankfully, tend to highlight the plight of cities in the UK, where child crime appears to be spiralling out of control. But it's not a problem we can afford to ignore here in Ireland either.

While overall levels of juvenile crime here remain low, Garda figures for 2002 showed a 70% increase in crimes committed by children under 16. The percentage rise in serious or "headline" offences for the same age-group was substantially higher. According to a report in the Irish Examiner earlier this year there was:

• a 200% rise in homicide offences, from one case in 2001 to three in 2002.
• a 140% jump in serious assaults, from 15 in 2001 to 36 in 2002.
• a 133% increase in serious drug offences, from 9 in 2001 to 21 in 2002.
• an 82% rise in thefts, from 107 in 2001 to 178 in 2002.
• an 85% increase in burglaries, from 53 in 2001 to 98 in 2002.

While the numbers are relatively small, the sharp upward trend is one that can't be ignored. If action isn't taken to address the problem of unruly criminal children at an early age they will almost certainly turn into criminal adults.

In the UK, where the problem is unarguably far worse, and where tough tactics seem to have failed repeatedly, some areas are turning the hard-line approach on its head. Nurture groups have been established in schools around the UK; their aim: to deliver the caring, nurturing environment that's missing for most of these children at home. The groups essentially attempt to provide the moral guidance, understanding, encouragement and measured discipline that these children's parents are unwilling or, more often, unable to provide at home.

Many of the children in these groups come from homes blighted by drugs, drink and crime. Not all of them are disruptive… some have gone the other way, withdrawing into themselves almost completely, refusing to interact with the outside world at all. In nurture groups specially trained teachers encourage the children, reward positive behaviour and promote constructive interaction with their peers. Nurture groups are an estimated 30% cheaper than equivalent residential care, and they deliver results. On average after spending two to four terms in a nurture group 87% of pupils are successfully re-integrated into normal classes, and 83% need no additional support.

One point was really driven home as I read about these nurture groups. By highlighting the impact that parental neglect has on specific children, the article threw the value of constructive, nurturing parental guidance into sharp relief. Bringing up our children is the single biggest responsibility that we face as parents. We shape our children's values, beliefs and attitudes when they are at their most malleable.

Despite the barrage of glib excuses that emanate from some people when it comes to children's behaviour, the bottom line is that the buck stops with the parents. Your child is your responsibility… period. If we're going to address the growing problem with dysfunctional youngsters in Ireland, isn't it time we turned the spotlight on dysfunctional parents?