KEY POINTS:
An elderly couple politely asked me whether they were watching a new batch of army recruits going through their paces in the Far North.
They had no idea many of these uniformed young boys were hardened members of Auckland street gangs sent on the MYND (Male Youth New Direction) programme by the Youth Court.
The oldest should have been studying for his NCEA level 2 or playing for his school 1st XV. They had hundreds of convictions between them, including extremely serious assaults in which their victims were lucky to be alive.
But that day they marched in perfect unison, their clothing neatly pressed, their chins up and backs straight.
The beaming elderly gentleman leaned over to me and said: "It makes you feel proud, doesn't it ?"
It was the clearest indication of something missing earlier from this lot: a sense of purpose and pride.
I was privileged to watch a group of mentors on the MYND programme make breakthroughs with a bunch of under-age offenders where social agencies, schools and families had failed, despite their best efforts.
The low-budget programme is run in a small part along paramilitary lines. It has helped to turn around hundreds of Auckland's worst youth offenders over the past eight years.
Its success rates are notable: a 58 per cent drop in total reoffending and a 71 per cent drop in serious crime.
But despite support from Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft, who says the MYND approach is both restorative and cost-effective, questions are being asked about boot camps' effectiveness.
Detractors say young criminals are almost certain to reoffend and a military-style autocratic approach would only aggravate those they are trying to rehabilitate.
While boot camps are vital for instructors to forge the bonds necessary with their proteges, they cannot work in isolation.
It would be a big assignment for Defence Force staff, who normally work with mature and willing trainees, to turn around young criminals ordered there by the courts.
The MYND mentors and social workers, who spend on average 350 hours with youth offenders over the programme's four months, want their contact time extended to 11 months.
The Government should be applauded for addressing youth crime but the success of the proposed programmes hinges on the effective co-ordination of resourcing, probably best handled by a lead agency. It must invest in staff capable of handling issues not solved by a good bollocking.
