More young offenders involved in drug abuse and sexual crimes
Number of young drug abusers also grew in same period: Report
The number of young offenders in Singapore fell by 43 per cent over the past decade, though more of such youth are now involved in drug abuse and sexual offences.
A new report on youth delinquency has found that the number of young drug abusers here rose by 10 per cent from 2016 to last year, while sexual offences - such as outrage of modesty and rape - committed by youth rose by 49 per cent in the same period.
First-time drug abusers accounted for 75 per cent of young drug abuser arrests, while the number of repeat young drug abusers more than doubled from 2016 to last year.
The overall number of young offenders here has fallen in the last decade, from more than 4,000 in 2010 to 2,400 last year.
The report, on offenders below the age of 18, was released yesterday at a virtual symposium held by the National Committee on Prevention, Rehabilitation and Recidivism (NCPR).
In his opening address at the event, Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua noted the rise in substance abuse and sexual offence cases in the last five years, and the worrying risks associated with exposure to pornography and addiction as children start to access the Internet at a younger age.
"While we cannot fully prevent our young ones from being exposed to pornographic material, we need to have open conversations with them on these topics, to educate and prepare them to interact appropriately with such materials that they may come into contact with," Mr Chua said.
COLLECTIVE EFFORT
"This is something that requires collective effort from all of us - as parents, caregivers, mentors and authority figures.
"While we continue to monitor these trends and identify emerging areas of work, we know that numbers do not completely reflect the diversity of circumstances that our youth face."
The top three most common crimes committed by youth in the last five years were shop theft, cheating-related offences, and sexual penetration offences, a trend that has remained consistent since 2014.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said the falling youth offending rate could be due to initiatives such as early intervention for youth in schools and the community, data sharing between government agencies to better support youth in need, and programmes that keep youth who commit minor offences out of the court system.
At the tertiary level, MSF plans to launch a pilot programme by the end of this year to offer mentoring to students who leave the Institute of Technical Education prematurely.
In his closing address at the symposium, Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim cited examples of collaborations between agencies that could improve support delivery, such as a two-year trial between the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and family service centres (FSCs) to help families of offenders.
Dr Faishal, who is co-chairman of the NCPR along with Mr Chua, said: "Since commencing the pilot in October 2020, SPS has worked with about 450 families of inmates to assess their needs, and will continue to refer vulnerable families to the FSCs for support."
He also noted the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth, and how it could make difficult situations more challenging for them.
"They have had to adapt to the new norms of staying indoors, learning from home, and not seeing their friends as often as they would like.
"We all have a part to play to help those under our care meet these challenges. We can achieve even more by working together," Dr Faishal said.
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