Youth under fire in Perth
By Arnold Bentley
PERTH — On November 6 in middle-class Churchlands a 16-year-old woman was stabbed to death in her classroom by a male classmate. Rather than leading to some reflection on attitudes towards women, this tragedy was seized by sensationalist sectors of the media as a pretext for a new wave of hang 'em and flog 'em frenzy.
Youth have become one of the favourite targets of trash-media prejudice here. "Community figures" parading under the slogan "adult punishment for adult crimes" have put proposals ranging from curfews to capital punishment for car theft. More cops and longer prison sentences are popular catchcries in these circles.
Contenting themselves with raving and slavering over "the murderous degeneration of our youth", most of the local media have managed to miss the main point entirely, says Catherine Brown, who addressed a Green Left Weekly forum on criminal justice and juvenile crime in September. Also speaking at the forum were Aboriginal activist Clarrie Isaacs and University of WA social work lecturer Dr Jim Iffe.
"People under the age of 18 are not permitted to vote, yet the raving right wants to send them to jail forever if they get involved in high-speed car chases.
"It would be far more useful to look at factors such as what has happened to the dole for young people. Some people under 18 are now expected to live on $28.95 a week.
"Perth CES has been sending 16-year-olds for jobs offering as little as $150 for a 45-hour week. Basic civilised treatment, rather than harsher penalties, would be far more likely to reduce the mix of poverty, alienation and hopelessness that is pushing some young people into crime."
Clarrie Isaacs raised the problem of increasing police harassment of young people, in particular young Aborigines.
The howlers also champion the family unit as a solution to juvenile crime, yet many young people driven to crime are homeless because they've been forced to escape intolerable family situations. n