Report on youth sparks response

BY SCOT MACKAY

Some Western Southland community leaders are being criticised for their ignorance of youth abuse.

Twelve comments posted on The Southland Times website are mainly critical of the response to the Western Southland Youth Needs Analysis report, which was made public last week.

While the report finds positives in youth attitudes towards school, success and their future, it identified problems with bullying and non-consensual sexual intercourse.

The majority of comments posted were from people upset with Southland District Tuatapere ward councillor George Harpur, who questioned how reliable the report was and said youth in Western Southland were no different to those elsewhere in the nation.

One online respondent said abuse had always been in Western Southland but "people just closed their eyes to it".

"So many kids have had their lives ruined in that town. People see it happen over and over again and they still won't do anything about it."

Another respondent said: "People have known about the terrible abuse that goes on in rural Southland for years and have done nothing.

"When I lived in Western Southland, I knew more kids who were sexually or physically abused than were not – The attitude in that area is that abused kids have brought it on themselves."

Mr Harpur did not return calls yesterday.

It is understood that the report will be presented at the Tuatapere and Riverton community board meetings next week.

Tuatapere Community Board member Stephen Crack, who has not read the report, but described himself as involved in the community, said he agreed with Mr Harpur and had not seen any signs of the reported abuse.

"It would seem awfully exaggerated to me – (and) why would it be any different to any other place," Mr Crack said.

Board chairman Gray Robertson said he agreed with Mr Harpur's comments but had yet to read the report.

Police in Tuatapere had made a big difference to youth problems and were doing a good job to address them, he said.

Southland police area commander Inspector Barry Taylor said police were aware of youth issues in the south but were not specifically targeting Western Southland.

Police welcomed any discussion on the issues and would work with social agencies to help solve them, he said.

Aparima College principal Kaye Day said 68 children in year nine and 10 from her Riverton school were involved in the report.

Ms Day said she was talking to her staff about the report.

However, because many of the issues occurred with youth outside of school there was a limit to how staff could help, Ms Day said.

She also stressed there were at least 100 children who lived in Riverton that did not attend her school.

The report was conducted as a part of a Venture Southland community development project to aid social service groups in Western Southland.

Venture community development planner Diana Zadravec said Western Southland youths had been identified as having key disadvantages because of their isolation from main centres. The report was attempting to identify the needs of the youths affected.

- © Fairfax NZ News