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With 88% ram raiders under the age of 20 It made me think about a collaborative artwork that I did with a group of young men in the Youth Unit of Christchurch Mens Prison in 2014.

This artwork reinforced the message that a child’s home can either be where the heart is, or where the harm is.

I asked the big questions to the young men I was working with.. What was it in their environment that lead them to being where they were today?. These were answers direct from our brainstorming sessions that are written on the painting itself.

REALITY - Drive by shootings, Domestic Violence , One young man whose parents were in prison was stealing to feed his siblings told me that his younger sister was making money from sex. Prostitution at an early age (10 years) ,substance abuse beginning as young as 5 are all realities for these children.

DESENSITISATION - Exposure from a young age to witnessing harm or in some instances death by violence , substance abuse, sexual abuse means that these youth NO LONGER FEAR or are DISTURBED by violence or over sexualisation of feelings. The boundaries of what is considered “normal” behaviour have become blurred. I can recall asking if they were scared when they witnessed these things (because Im damn sure I would be terrified) and they said no. I can also recall misperceptions of behaviours .. the incredulous look on the face of one young man when I said “no, its not normal behaviour for your dad to lock your mother in the boot of the car” . This is NOT a normal way for a family to behave .. but for him it was normal. So I guess its about changing these misperceptins .

NON AUTHORITIVE PARENTING- There is often no love , no family/whanau support or unit. Some of these boys parents were on drugs, some had one or both parents in prison. Children are often left to look after themselves and that includes finding money anyway they can to feed themselves. If I think about that today, we are all understanding the hardships of increases at the fuel pump and at the supermarket so I am sure that the cost of items and the value they have to sell on a black market are leading to an increase in burglaries including ram raids.

TRUANCY - labelling based on older siblings behaviour or peer groups mean sometimes schools give up on some youth. Behavioural disorders including foetal alcohol syndrome WITHOUT parental support from the home mean children drop out of the education system. Truancy services give up because they can’t contact family . Truancy leads to boredom leads to offending in many cases.

BOREDOM

A few of the boys that I was working with told me a place that had been designated for youth to congregate in had been closed down by the local council resulting in a rise in criminal behaviour. Youth need a supervised safe place to congregate , where they can play sport , or with cultural activities .

An interesting Ministry of Social Development research paper that I read called “Offending by Children in New Zealand”. Author

Philip Spier, and Published in September 2016 showed the following of youth offending.

“An estimated one in 20 NZ children offend before the age of 14.

An estimated 5% of children from the 1995 to 1999 birth cohorts became known to Police in New Zealand for offending before reaching 14 years of age. Boys (7%) were twice as likely as girls (4%) to offend as children. Māori children were approximately three times more likely than non-Māori children to become known to Police as an offender by age 14.

This is the reality so what’s the answer?

The Queen sold at Auction for $1810.00. A Wonderful outcome with 100% of the proceeds going to the Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust. Thanks to all the bidders but especially thanks to the team at NGC Windows who had the winning bid.

The artwork now is sitting proudly at NGC Windows offices in Christchurch.

"Queen Kereru with her cloak of feathers " .

Thanks to all of the children who worked on this project, you guys are awesome - Avery Cook, Ruby Wesley, Ivy Wesley, Margot Farell, Audey Sparks, Eden Ryan, Josh Ward, Penny Ward, Bridget Hunt, Bella Gibson, Pippa Griffiths, Lucy Griffits, Tahlia Lang, Amelia Guthrie, Georgia Kelso, Emmy Clyne, Briar Clyne, Georgie Hyde, Maddie Hyde, Nathan Muir, Emma Wescombe, Harmony van der Merwe, Grace Ambrose-Moore, Mady Moran-Jefferies, Anastazja Kaczmarczyk, Sage Walker, Aki Walker