A day after Auckland businesses were again targeted by smash and grab burglars, 1News reporter Simon Mercep gets an insight into what may lead youngsters into this behaviour and how intervention at primary school age may make a huge difference.
It was a sadly familiar scene on Tuesday morning, this time at a shop in Howick.
Several burglars were involved, one filming the break in.
"They are teenagers, I don't know it looks like they're teenagers,” the shop owner said.
READ MORE: Auckland shops, liquor store burgled overnight
Other businesses across Auckland were also hit.
But the Principal Youth Court Judge understands retailers are angry but says offenders also need help.
"We need to be spending more time intervening much earlier," John Walker said.
He says that because he deals with youth offenders day in, day out and knows their backgrounds.
He says they may be subjected to family violence, drugs and alcohol, or gang influence, which can lead to learned behaviour they repeat.
There's also another factor.
"Our young people are coming into court with a much higher prevalence of neurodisability than the general population."
The judge says those disabilities include dyslexia, autism, foetal alcohol syndrome, and brain injury, among others.
The Dyslexia Foundation says these young offenders may become adult offenders.
"The harsh reality in New Zealand is that 60% of the prison population are dyslexic and over 80% have some form of neurodiversity," Dyslexia NZ chair Guy Pope-Mayell said.
So for youngsters whose home is unsafe, and who may be struggling at school, dropping out is an option.
"Where do they go? They go and make a community with young people that have got a similar background,” Walker said.
You might think these learning difficulties would be picked up at school but the Principals' Federation told us some schools get support for this, but there's just not enough and what's really needed is more specialist help.
Primary school principal Lynda Stuart is applying for a third time to get funding to help a student.
She says her low decile school doesn't have the specialist support staff other schools have.
“So I think there's been 600 rolled out. there's 2500, so you know actually, there's still a lot to go," Stuart said.
Getting a professional diagnosis helps a family get funding, but that could cost hundreds of dollars.
“Well that certainly wouldn't be affordable here you know, that's the reality,” Stuart said.
Judge Walker says “it would be money well spent if the identification of these young people and an intervention to change their trajectory took place much, much earlier”.
The Government agrees more can be done.
“There's not enough, and I'm the first to tell you that there are not enough supports out there now for those young people," Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti said.
She says a review of resources is under way with recommendations to go to cabinet in October.
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