But the grown adult parents and caregivers who are willfully or neglectfully turning a blind eye to the misdeeds their charges are up to when out of the house late at night? We would like to think society can hold them to a higher standard of responsibility.
Whakatāne Senior Sergeant Al Fenwick says society has "dropped the ball" when it comes to supervision.
"You ask the question, why don't you know where your intermediate or early high school-aged kids are at one o'clock at night?
"If you knew where your kids were, they wouldn't be out stealing cars and wrecking people's livelihoods," he told the Whakatane Beacon.
Oranga Tamariki told RNZ in April that 80 per cent of youth criminals it dealt with came from a home environment with family violence and 90 per cent have learning difficulties. Almost all are not at school. Those are factors communities can try to address.
But the impact of youth crime on victims is not diminished because the offenders are having a hard time at home.
Owners of ram-raided businesses in the Bay of Plenty told NZME this week they were left with trauma and debts after being targeted, some multiple times.
Store owner Saed Rajput sleeps each night with an iPad next to his bed playing security camera footage of his storefront. Those who ram raided it in April have not been caught, despite appearing to be videoing themselves committing the crime.
An academic expert says ram raids epitomised "high-octane behaviour" that was glamorised through footage posted on social media, creating a "social contagion" effect that could draw youths in.
The idea of offenders who treated their crimes so lightly as to brazenly promote them, potentially creating more miscreants in the process, is galling.
It's hard to imagine how to truly get them to understand how wrong their actions are and set them on a better path just by punishing them.
But given the circumstances of so many of these trouble-making kids, does anyone really think heaping harsh consequences and financial penalties on their families will improve their circumstances and change their ways?
Parents already have a role in the youth justice system in New Zealand. They may be asked to participate at various levels, including family group conferences.
This involves coming up with ways for young offenders to make up for what they have done, according to Youth Law.
"This could include an apology, paying money to the victim, working for the victim or the community, a donation to charity, a curfew, counselling, training programes and more. Solutions can be creative."
Parents should be held responsible when their children act up so egregiously as to cause serious and lasting harm to others.
But it's not as simple as chucking caregivers in prison or hitting them with fines or damage costs they likely will not be able to pay.
Creative solutions are needed.
