In a climate where hooliganism appears to be on the increase and respect is being called for, a hard look at offending youngsters in the county and the Surrey Youth Offending Team's Community Reparation Programme and those who supervise direct reparation as part of the punishment

Community service is 'no soft option'

Publicly paying a debt to society should not carry the humiliation of wearing a uniform, says the boss of Surrey's Youth Offending Team.
Toby Wells, county head of youth justice, hopes the spectacle of graffiti-cleaning youngsters clad like American chain gang convicts will never be seen in Surrey.
It has been mooted as the national deterrent to youth crime by one Labour MP — but scorned by others of all parties as merely igniting revenge crime once penance is over.
Mr Wells is emphatic that his youth offending team, now regularly supervising 150 juveniles, referred by the courts for community penalties, is doing fine without this measure.
He said: “There is no evidence humiliation would work — but there is evidence that the way we do things at the moment does work.”

Cleaning off graffiti, conservation projects in open spaces, partnership tasks with Surrey Fire and Rescue car washes to raise money for charity and local authority work like hedge trimming are among the many reparation tasks carried out.
Direct work for victims of their own vandalism — fence repairing, window and graffiti cleaning — shows sufferers from hooliganism culture that community service is a far from soft option.
And at the team's Woking carpentry workshop dozens of wooden toys are made for the children's wards of Epsom Hospital.
The regime of regularly reporting to team supervisors — and if they don't turn up police are looking for them — places severe restrictions on their social life.
Said Mr Wells: “We do a lot of graffiti-cleaning and our teams of about four in charge of one supervisor have been seen out a lot in Epsom. “We have done a lot of cleaning up of the network of alleyways around Waterloo Road and Temple Road.”
Those who see teenage “hoodies” toiling to remove aerosol-sprayed “tags” might consider that there, but for the grace of good parents, could have gone thousands of others.
Many young criminals have been spawned by adults whose interest in their children might just pass muster because there is no sign of material need in the family home.

But while there has always been cash for designer trainers there is no interest in children's behaviour, education or who their friends are.
If this disinterest is within the framework of financial deprivation the child can become “feral” — out on the streets and stealing to acquire status gear.
If mum and dad have also regularly been “on the rob” they have no honest role model for working to acquire what they want. The most sad are those who have fallen victim to the drugs dealers now plying their trade in leafy Surrey where young users thieve to fund their habit.
Said Mr Wells: “Many of them respond to kindness and often, when they have been doing reparation work in an area, members of the public — often elderly people — have given them snacks and sweets while they are working, talked to them and bridges are built.”
So far Epsom, Ewell and Banstead has not experienced the hideous yob youth culture in cities. Surrey, says Mr Wells, is still the safest county in England.

He said: “Yes, some youngsters do return to crime or antisocial behaviour once they have done their time with us — but the majority do not.”

Joan Mulcaster
7 June 2005

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