TEENAGE VIOLENCE

Column: 283

TEENAGE VIOLENCE: 8.

Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports in view of recent newspaper reports on teenage violence, whether there is (a) a rising trend in teenage violence involving girls; (b) a statistical breakdown of female and male teenage offenders and victims; and (c) a corresponding increase in the helplines and organisations that focus on helping problem teens.

9.

Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports in view of recent newspaper reports on teenage violence, whether there is any survey or study to ascertain the (i) cause of teenage violence; (ii) income and family profile of offenders; and (iii) relative degree of maternal and paternal care received by offenders.

The Minister of State for Community Development and Sports (Mr Chan Soo Sen) (for the Minister for Community: Column: 258

Development and Sports): Sir, can I take Question Nos. 8 and 9 together because they are related?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Mr Speaker, Sir, based on the figures of the Police, from 2001 to 2003, 670 male and 86 female juveniles were arrested for violent offences. For the same period, there were a total of 659 male and 983 female juvenile victims of violent crimes. These juveniles are between 7 and 15 years of age.

Reports of such violent crimes tend to be quite sensational. In fact, if Members look at the newspapers, in December 2003 as well as January 2004, there were quite a number of very sensationalised reporting. But it is not correct to conclude therefore that juvenile crimes are out of control. If you look at those reports carefully, about half of these reports are reports of trials of crimes that were committed in 2003 or 2002. In fact, I would like to say that there was a 56% decrease in the number of female juveniles arrested for violent crimes last year as compared to the year before. Therefore, it is definitely not true that crimes involving female juveline delinquents have increased.

On the family profile of young offenders, over 70% of juveniles who are referred to my Ministry for probation come from intact, rather than dysfunctional families. The majority of these juveniles come from families earning a family income below $2,500 per month.

In a study conducted by my Ministry between June 2002 and April 2003, we found that juvenile offenders rated the level of support and supervision rendered by their mothers to be higher than that provided by their fathers.

Column: 285

Juvenile violence can be attibuted to various reasons, and that is why we need a concerted effort by various Governmental bodies, social agencies, community organisations as well as family members to deal with the problem effectively. There is an Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crimes (IMYC) chaired by Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee comprising senior representatives from the Ministries of Community Development and Sports, Education and Home Affairs and other agencies, to monitor the youth crime situation and coordinates the programmes of various agencies to tackle this issue. In fact, there are many programmes that have been initiated to tackle and prevent youth crimes. For example, 81 schools initiated the School Community Security Programme which targets at preventing juvenile delinquency. Other measures include the Police-School Liaison System, and the Honorary Volunteer Special Constabulary (School) Scheme.

Also, the Police, together with IMYC and National Crime Prevention Council, developed a Youth-Crime Prevention Roadshow last year. The roadshows were targeted at students and their parents as well as teachers of schools, Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs) as well as polytechnics. Feedback gathered from more than 3,000 students who attended the roadshows indicated that the roadshows achieved the objective of raising greater reflection on crime. For example, 83% indicated that they better understood why youths commonly committed offences, such as simple theft, shop theft and rioting, and an overwhelming 90% recognised the dire consequences of committing a crime.

Although there are many programmes and measures in place to tackle youth crime, I cannot sufficiently emphasise the critical role parents play in instilling

Column: 286

positive values in our youths. Prevention efforts to combat youth violence must begin in the family. Parents who require assistance in parenting can seek help from my Ministry or any voluntary welfare organisation. They can also approach the Family Service Centres near their homes or call the hotline at 1800-838 0100 for assistance. Alternatively, parents can also access the "About Family Life" website at www.aboutfamilylife.org.sg for more information on helping their teenagers cope with peer pressure, disciplining teenagers, parenting, imparting values to and communicating with teenagers.

Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Sir, I am glad to hear that there is a decreasing trend instead of an increasing trend of juvenile delinquency. But in terms of severity of the crimes, are the crimes committed by juveniles getting more severe?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Sir, I do not know whether I can answer that question with a simple sentence, because what do we mean by "severity of crimes". I can only say that the figures are quite stable. There is no trend to indicate that they are getting more or less severe. There is no untoward kind of tendency that we can see.