Editorial: Parents need to explain

Police arrested 15 youths that were part of a brawl involving up to 40 young people.

Rotorua isn't the first, and won't be the last, town to have problems with violent youths.

A brawl involving up to 40 teens near Kuirau Park at the weekend resulted in 15 arrests.

Many of those involved were said to be aged under 15.

I can almost hear what you're thinking right now.

Where were the parents?

It's an easy question, maybe too easy, but worth asking for many of those kids, 11 of whom were arrested but not charged, and were returned to their parents or caregivers.

In New Zealand, it is against the law to leave children aged under 14 on their own without taking reasonable steps for their care and supervision.

It's a safe bet many of those children were under 14.

Something needs to be done and my hat goes off to people like Debbie Potaka who used her initiative after another recent incident to call a meeting to try to find a solution to the violence on our streets. It was heartening to see about 15 people, including business owners, lawyers, teachers and parents attended the meeting, to discuss ways of stopping these fights, such as offering free activities for youth during the Christmas period.

It may not be a total solution to this particular problem because it also rests at the feet of the parents or caregivers of the youngsters concerned. But it is a positive step towards making our streets safer and keeping our youth out of trouble.