Truancy can be countered by providing free lunches and breakfasts at school and using our schools as true access points to wider social services. Many of these kids are already known to social services, there isn’t a need to escalate Police chase policy when you know who you are looking for.
This pressure and stress are impacting all of us in different ways and that certainly goes for our most vulnerable kids. We have all collectively gone through a universal unique experience with this Covid pandemic, it has thrown our certainty and agency out the window while creating intense economic pressure and psychological stress. I appreciate the fear of crime and how unsettling such lawlessness can be, but we are adults in this country, and as such, it is our obligation and responsibility as adults to drive debate that isn’t reactionary and is focused more on de-escalation.
There is a new cry in the air for harsher sentences, relaxing Police chase policy and punishing parents for the crimes of their children. Martyn ‘Bomber’ Bradbury: Nothing excites pundits and tough on crime commentators quite like young brown offenders ram raiding and skipping school.