Australia's National Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 6

December 2024

Donate Here

Letters

Give the Kids a Chance

By

CC

CC writes from Port Augusta Prison in South Australia.

Papaioannou Kostas for Unsplash

Font Size
Font Size
Line Height
Line Height
Dyslexia Friendly
Black & White
Hide Images
Night Mode

To the Editor,

I am writing today to draw attention to Youth Crime, and I'm not meaning 16 and 17 year olds. I’m talking about 10, 11 and 12 year olds.

My nephew who is 12 years old, is currently on 7 different bail agreements, a couple of which are breaches of bail for not being home when SAPol have performed curfew checks. Well, he is never at home. Why? Because his mother is an alcoholic who swings between neglect and outright abuse.

Already I can feel most reading this nodding their heads as it causes reminiscing on your own childhoods. All of these 8-12 year olds who don't want to be home drift together and end up congregating at a central location, be it a skate park, shopping centre, or train station. Within these groups, one or two will undoubtedly have older brothers, who willingly supply a provision of cigarettes, alcohol, weed, etc, and if not initiate, definitely encourage or romanticise bad, anti-social and criminal behaviour.

Children of substance dependent parents long for somewhere to just be that isn't home, and it is of ever more appeal if they can find connections that fill that hole inside of us that is the longing to belong to something bigger than just ourselves, that is to some degree inherent in all human psyches.

These young angry men are gravitating towards each other and their anti-social tendencies are exponentially extrapolated to outright criminal behaviour extremely fast. And this is furthermore perpetuated by further thinking, creating a desire to lead a life as a community member NOT pariah; while offering real support programs to the parents.

An outreach program needn't be fancy. Run from their school, using the facilities after hours to encourage attendance at class prior, and with the aid of donations an amazing program could be successfully run.

Imagine, then what could be achieved using the AUD$90,000 per annum it costs to house these juveniles in prisoners, as well as other court incurred costs that could potentially be redirected. There would be an abundance of funding available to really make inroads with helping parents address their own issues. This could result in making home a welcome and safe place.

Give these kids somewhere to just be. Make it safe, positive and even productive. No one is “just an addict”, so address parental dependencies on drugs and alcohol. Let's make our “criminal generation” the one that breaks the cycle of anti-social behavior and criminal offending stemming from an under addressed but fixable root cause.

Yours Sincerely,

CC

To the Editor,

I am writing today to draw attention to Youth Crime, and I'm not meaning 16 and 17 year olds. I’m talking about 10, 11 and 12 year olds.

My nephew who is 12 years old, is currently on 7 different bail agreements, a couple of which are breaches of bail for not being home when SAPol have performed curfew checks. Well, he is never at home. Why? Because his mother is an alcoholic who swings between neglect and outright abuse.

Already I can feel most reading this nodding their heads as it causes reminiscing on your own childhoods. All of these 8-12 year olds who don't want to be home drift together and end up congregating at a central location, be it a skate park, shopping centre, or train station. Within these groups, one or two will undoubtedly have older brothers, who willingly supply a provision of cigarettes, alcohol, weed, etc, and if not initiate, definitely encourage or romanticise bad, anti-social and criminal behaviour.

Children of substance dependent parents long for somewhere to just be that isn't home, and it is of ever more appeal if they can find connections that fill that hole inside of us that is the longing to belong to something bigger than just ourselves, that is to some degree inherent in all human psyches.

These young angry men are gravitating towards each other and their anti-social tendencies are exponentially extrapolated to outright criminal behaviour extremely fast. And this is furthermore perpetuated by further thinking, creating a desire to lead a life as a community member NOT pariah; while offering real support programs to the parents.

An outreach program needn't be fancy. Run from their school, using the facilities after hours to encourage attendance at class prior, and with the aid of donations an amazing program could be successfully run.

Imagine, then what could be achieved using the AUD$90,000 per annum it costs to house these juveniles in prisoners, as well as other court incurred costs that could potentially be redirected. There would be an abundance of funding available to really make inroads with helping parents address their own issues. This could result in making home a welcome and safe place.

Give these kids somewhere to just be. Make it safe, positive and even productive. No one is “just an addict”, so address parental dependencies on drugs and alcohol. Let's make our “criminal generation” the one that breaks the cycle of anti-social behavior and criminal offending stemming from an under addressed but fixable root cause.

Yours Sincerely,

CC

Leave a Comment

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
0 Comments
Author Name
Comment Time

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere. uis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Send Us a Letter

Your contributions are the centerpiece of the paper. If you would like to contribute to our Letters section, please send your letters to the below postal address:

About Time
PO BOX 24041
Melbourne VIC 3000

Sustainable Gardening

By George

I am the volunteer garden billet and some of my responsibilities are garden plot allocation and seed distribution.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 8

2 MIN READ

The Benefits of Gardening

By Alex

Dad would always say “there’s something about toiling in the garden, getting your hands in soil, it earths me out.”

Letters

ISSUE NO. 8

3 MIN READ

Lack of Housing for Inmates Seeking Parole

By Patrick

The lack of housing is creating a backlog for inmates who otherwise would be eligible for parole.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 8

3 MIN READ

Pay Not Adding Up

By Kerrin

With even the prison staff in industries agreeing that our pay rates are ridiculous, how do things stay the same?

Letters

ISSUE NO. 8

4 MIN READ

Get the full paper in print each month.

6-Month Subscription:

Physical copy of About Time delivered to your home or organisation each month for six months. Paid upfront.

Subscribe for $70

12-Month Subscription:

Physical copy of About Time delivered to your home or organisation each month for twelve months. Paid upfront.

Subscribe for $125

Newsletter

Be the first to learn about our monthly stories, plus new initiatives and live events

You've successfully registered!
Something went wrong when we tried to register your details. Please try again.

Support Australia's first national prison newspaper

A place for news and education, expression and hope.

Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.

It's
About Time.

A place for news and education, expression and hope.

Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.

Donate Here

Welcome to About Time

About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

Your browser window currently does not have enough height, or is zoomed in too far to view our website content correctly. Once the window reaches the minimum required height or zoom percentage, the content will display automatically.

Alternatively, you can learn more via the links below.

Donations via GiveNow

Email

Instagram

LinkedIn

Newsletter

Be the first to learn about our monthly stories, plus new initiatives and live events

You've successfully registered!
Something went wrong when we tried to register your details. Please try again.