Kāpiti’s endemic youth violence too much for local parent

By Paula Burkett

A little over a month on from the second death in the area and have local youth learnt anything from these tragic and unnecessary deaths?

From what I have seen and keep seeing the answer to this question would be “No.”

Several local youths parties are still ending with excessive drinking and fighting in the streets, and even more mind boggling I am told the ones involved are friends and associates of the two boys that were killed.

So what is it going to take before the message gets through, why is it there is seemingly little respect for life amongst our community today.

Victims of violence

Violence is the act of intentionally hurting someone and it is rife amongst our youth today, there is no simple explanation as to why violence is on the rise but is a very real concern for parents today that between the ages of 11 and 26 our children are at their highest risk of becoming a victim of violence.

Violence is often learned behaviour and although it’s not an easy thing to change it can be changed, learning to recognise the warning signs of violent behaviour can be pivotal in being able to get help when needed.

There is a misconception amongst youth that making people fear them will earn respect, it is quite the contrary behaving violently often results in isolation, lack of respect and being disliked by peers.

Once recognised, there are things that can be done to help, hoping that someone else will deal with it is not a proactive way to deal with things.
Find someone you trust

Keeping yourself safe is of paramount importance so if you are concerned at all for your safety or you are worried about the violent tendencies of someone you know, find yourself someone you trust and respect that you can talk about these concerns with.

If you have been the victim of violence it is very important to go to the local authorities and make them aware of the situation in order to prevent anything further from happening.

Anger is a very strong emotion and it is normal to feel frustrated and upset if you have been the victim of violence but retaliating with another violent action will not resolve anything and in many cases will escalate the problem.

As a parent myself I am often wary of my children’s safety and am dismayed at the amount of violence within our community, the apparent inertia in local authorities to come up with any real resolutions.

And recent events have had some influence in helping to make our famil’s decision,sadly, to leave the area before the end of the year.

I grew up here myself and it is no longer an environment I want for my children.