That’s the question asked by Chris Tremain in his Guest Buzzmaker column for the coming week.
In fact, as you’ll see in Chris’ column, a lot of brainstorming has been going on to develop creative ideas for reducing violence in our community. Here’s a very brief preview of just three …
1. “Kaumatua Rocket Reading”… an initiative aimed at turning Flaxmere kids into some of the Bay’s best readers. This single initiative involves a book drive to establish a library on the Marae, a partnership with local schools, volunteer “Kaumatua” and one-on-one reading with children after school.
2. Working with Police on a reinvigorated “Flaxmere Style” Neighbourhood Watch program where the community gets to know each other in small clusters and begins to look after each other on a more personal level.
3. “Flaxmere Sunday School” (FSS) is a Flaxmere Community “Work Order”, worked at the Community Marae, which can be issued to 12-16 year-olds by both Flaxmere Community Police and Flaxmere Principals. The order would be similar to a speeding ticket with no conviction and no need to go to court. They would be issued under the auspices of a Flaxmere Community Board.
The FSS is an order to serve a day’s community work or to attend a day’s community programme to be held at the Marae either on a Sunday or during school holidays. It is designed to give 12 to 16 year olds a short, sharp, shock about their behaviour, without imposing a criminal record, but making sure their unacceptable actions – such as vandalism, shoplifting, fighting, tagging, truancy – have consequences.
These and other ideas will be discussed at a public meeting on Wednesday, August 20th, 7pm, at the Flaxmere Community Marae. There, Chris, Henare, Craig Foss, Wayne Bradshaw and others who have been working to developing follow-up plans hope to get heaps of public comment and suggestions … and some buy-in from the community.
Attend if you can.
You can also share your views and ideas by completing this online survey that BayBuzz has prepared with the planning team. We ask about some specific proposals, and provide plenty of opportunity for you to provide your own thoughts.
But however you choose, we look forward to hearing from you. Henare and his team are eager to getting some concrete programs off the ground.
Tom
Yes a couple of observations.
Attended a penal; reform 3 day conference at London 23.7 2008to.27thJuly 2008.
All U.K newspapers on the 23rd July,(first day of the conference)
made commnet re using prisons toilets to cope with overcrowding.
"LABOUR PARTY FOOLS THE PUBLIC." In 2007 LABOUR promised to solve crime by incarcerating more offenders" in the U,K
Now 3 prisoners to one cell, including using toiltets to relieve the overcrowding. has resutled in a crisis of Human Rights
The Guardian suggested,The Labou Party in its obsession to gan votes on the law and order debacle,had forgotton to build more prisons, to satisfy the Retributive Justice mind set, the Labour Pary had encouraged , over recent years.
Closer to home.!!! Aspiring Prime Minister John Key will loose all his credibility, if he feels his, Social Welfare spokesperson Judith Collins, has any affinity or understanding towards the sad prdicimant towards many of our people,(unlike herself) are born into disadvantage Beware of.Judith Collins, "perhaps colder of heart " than Maggie Thatcher".?
200 school children, and considering the sheer mass scale of stupidity involved in the event, the word “children” is overstepping the mentality mark are involved in a mass brawl in a Hastings park.
Dozens of Police are brought in to attempt to quell the riot. A number of officers, only there to do their job and keep the peace are injured, at least one requiring hospital treatment.
This isn’t West Side Story. The Sharks and the Jets weren’t having a “rumble” because Tony from one school had been caught going out with Maria from the other. This is the twenty first century, not the stone age. Why is this still going on in society? Have we not learned after two World Wars, several smaller attempts and millions of dead and injured that violence is just plain dumb and solves nothing?
No one wants to own up to this problem. We have become a nation of Fifth Amendment pleaders where nothing is our fault. We are constantly being bombarded with excuses for our own stupid behaviour. “I was on P, I was Drunk, they started it, they were asking for it.”
Politicians are no help. Turning up to rallies, just in time for the cameras to show them taking part, making their usual shallow, often misguided, promises then disappearing back to their cosy, closeted lives. This is an issue that we ourselves must deal with and it’s well past time something happened.
It’s time we all stood up, grew a pair and admitted when we err, noticed when things were wrong and actually did something about it.