KEY POINTS:
The Weekend Herald's coverage of the challenges in dealing with troubled young men, "Families say the state is failing their children", did little to educate the public on this issue.
Searching for failure among the many thousands of boys Child, Youth and Family works with diminishes the very
real achievements all of us in the sector experience with kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The serious incidents covered in the article, and the state's response in trying to address the extreme antisocial behaviour behind them, demonstrate that it's never about just one issue - nor is it about money.
When antisocial behaviours of any form have been learnt and played out regularly, they form a habituated pattern that requires skill, patience and determination on the part of carers and professionals to reverse.
Importantly this also requires will and desire on the part of the young person to want to change, to be prepared to see their life for what it is and to seek more. This is particularly so of teenagers who exercise more choice over their actions and must learn to accept the consequences when these choices are poor.
For those young men who have presented the most challenging of behaviours, a range of remedies have normally been tried to achieve a breakthrough. Life skills programmes, supervised activity programmes, counselling, therapy, secure residential care, family home placements, medication, alternative education ... the list continues.
Almost always there has been someone, usually an extended family member or a foster carer, who loves this challenging young person and has been there for them through thick and thin.
These carers provide multiple chances in the hope of improved behaviour. Often they become worn out by the terrible disappointments.
Tragically, all the way through their acting out, these boys are looking for attachment and belonging but their behaviours repel the opportunities for this to occur. Even more sadly, this void is sometimes filled by gang association.
The endless efforts of social workers and others to provide a rehabilitative path for these boys are made in the hope of their living responsible adult lives in the community. Many times they succeed but it doesn't always work out. These young people are unpredictable and even the most promising plans and signs of progress can be undone by a single foolish act.
When things go wrong and harm is done in a community we all look for answers. The burden is shared among all those who have touched the young person's life.
At these times, Child, Youth and Family staff feel the sense of frustration and the anger of others acutely. We are often the last people standing between a young person and a life of crime and incarceration, and we take this responsibility seriously.
The people involved in these young people's lives will all have very different views. And the many of them who have gone to huge effort to help these boys and their families will still be hoping they can make a difference.
* Ray Smith is head of Child, Youth and Family Services.
