Banning guns doesn't solve anything. Crime is a human behavior.
Children were suspected of carrying out one in five stabbings in NSW last
year, with experts concerned about the trend of young men and teenage boys
carrying knives and calling it a recipe for disaster.
Data obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald after the fatal stabbing of 17-
year-old Easter Show worker Uati Pele Faletolu shows there were 61
persons of interest a police term for suspected offenders who may or
may not be charged last year aged 10-17 in knife attacks across the
state, compared with 205 adults.
Ninety-eight children aged between 10 and 17 were victims of non-domestic
assaults using a knife, screwdriver or scissors in 2021. Two children were
fatally stabbed, information from the Bureau of Crime Statistics shows.
Faletolu was working at the Easter Show last Monday when he met two other
teenagers, aged 15 and 16, while on his break from the Break Dance Ride.
The trio had an altercation with another group of young people, and
Faletolu died in the ambulance on the way to hospital after he was
stabbed.
The 15-year-old boy he was with at the time was arrested and charged with
affray, being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence and
custody of a knife in a public place, while a 16-year-old was taken to
Westmead Hospital in a serious condition with a stab wound.
Investigators are probing whether so-called postcode gangs teenagers
and young adults who group together with others from their suburbs and
have disputes with other suburbs gangs played a role in the 17-year-
olds death. Investigators have yet to charge anybody.
Faletolu is the second teenager stabbed to death this year. In January,
members of the public desperately tried to save a 13-year-old with a stab
wound to the stomach lying in the street in Kariong on the states Central
Coast.
The boy died in Gosford Hospital following what police say was a fight
pre-arranged on social media.
Another 13-year-old, who allegedly knew the dead boy, has been charged
with murder.
Neither boy can be named for legal reasons.
The trend of young men carrying knives is inherently dangerous, detective
turned criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworth, of Bond University, said.
We know the male brain doesnt develop until about 30 so that frontal
lobe isnt fully developed, he said. That in conjunction with a deadly
weapon theres a recipe for disaster
Young people often carried knives for protection, Goldsworth said, begging
the question of what they needed protecting from.
It shows these people are prepared to engage in adverse, risky behaviour
and dont consider the long-term consequences, he said. They want to
walk around with a weapon. That exhibits a certain mindset either youre
going to commit an offence, or youre going to run into people who will.
Parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson, who has a PhD in psychology, said
multiple factors may lead teenage boys and young men to violent crime.
The first is parental involvement and structure, he said. We find that
when parents are engaged, those kids tend not to get into this type of
trouble. When parents are less involved, they look elsewhere for support
and will often find it in peer groups that dont always have the best
intentions.
Glorifying violence on social media was another contributor to young
peoples attraction to violence, Coulson said.
Cultural expectations within some ethnic and racial groups was another.
Some groups of young boys have that idea that they need to do what they
can to preserve their family group, the idea that youre my brother, Ill
bleed for you, he said.
The influence of masculine culture
is another [factor], he said. Even
though some parts of society have moved on from the neanderthal beliefs,
in the proportion involved in gangs [these beliefs] are firmly
entrenched.
NSW Police Youth Command works with community groups and other government
organisations to intervene with young people at risk of criminal
behaviour, Acting Superintendent Carlene Mahoney said.
We know that the key to long and lasting change is working with at-risk
young people and engaging them to ensure they make good decisions
diverting them away from criminal activity.
Manly Sea Eagles player Josh Aloaia weighed in on Faletolus death on
Instagram last week, telling his followers that your postcode and your
suburb doesnt care about you.
This needs to stop ... Islanders are assaulting and killing other
islanders in the streets. Often kids. Our very own people! Where have we
lost our identity?.
<https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/one-in-five-stabbing-suspects-is-a-
child-data-shows-20220415-p5adqu.html>