Adult mentors are helping reduce the youth crime rate in Australia, but more are urgently needed, according to industry experts.
Youth crime has been on the decline for over a decade, but New South Wales has just seen the first increase since 2009 according to the the most recent data.
Industry experts say mentoring through organisations such as RAISE, which matches mentors with school students, can play a larger part in preventing crimes.
“I think youth mentoring is fantastic; I think young people need role models in their life,” said one NSW Department of Education school counsellor. “That relationship with a safe adult, it can really help young people to strive and get through if they are struggling.
“Being more mature in the brain more developed, they can probably help a young person distinguish what the truth is, what’s reality, as opposed to what’s idealistic… because of lived experience.”
NSW has tightened bail restrictions for child offenders, however, Australian criminologists have warned the changes could result in more teenagers being imprisoned, and more repeat offending.
Last year saw first increase in youth offenders since 2009-10. (Source: ABS).
Youth mentoring, as a preventative and early intervention strategy, has become an integral part of supporting young people’s wellbeing.
Umesh Pahwa, a 51-year-old IT consultant and ex-volunteer for RAISE, said: “I’m not comparing youth mentoring through RAISE for example with other methods, but I think it is one of the very noble causes.
“After having done it for two years – the fact that I ended up doing the second year because I really believed in it and I think they’ve [RAISE] mastered the art of doing it.”
Pahwa’s desire to become a mentor and give back comes from a place of purpose, after he lost his brother to suicide. Photo: Aaryan Pahwa.
The RAISE Foundation is secondary schools’ go-to provider, having supported over 1,000 schools across seven states and mentoring 15,000 young people.
According to their 2023 Evaluation and Annual Report, more than 11,700 mentees reported the program helped them cope with issues such as depression, self-harm, financial hardship and insecure housing – four primary causes behind youth criminal activity today.
RAISE’s early intervention youth mentoring program strengthens peer-to-peer relationships at high schools across the country. Photo: Mihika Munot
“I think it’s important to have a mentor because it paves you a pathway, it gives you a subtle idea what to do in the future,” said one high school student.
Pahwa said the relationship between parents and their children was different to that of other adult mentors.
“You can’t be very open with your parents – I mean, they say parents should be your best friends, honestly it is a little theoretical right?” he added.
“So, I think having some parent-like figures, but they’re your friends… who you do not know, and they have no interest in being biased and now imposing their opinions.”
Umesh Pahwa. Photo: Aaryan Pahwa.
Diversionary programs, such as Youth on Track which involve counsellors and mentors working towards redirecting young people toward a positive life outlook, have reported a 100 per cent reduced risk of re-offending upon completion of the program.
Youth crime recidivism rates in NSW have not risen since the pandemic. (Source: ABS)
One NSW Department of Education school counsellor working at a public school, said he thought there was a link between social media and poor mental health in high school students.
“The biggest issue probably is exposure to the content at a younger age,” he said. “Being raised up by the media…what they’re seeing on social media rather than at home. I think probably that’s a big one.”
Historically, young women have almost always faced significantly poorer levels of mental health, anxiety and depression compared to young men – currently 6 per cent higher, according to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report.
However, males are far less likely to seek help and open up about their mental health, rendering them less likely to be diagnosed – with 12.9 per cent seeking a professional for mental health compared to 21.6 per cent of females.
“I think that comes down to the stigma and masculinity and feeling uncomfortable about talking about feelings, but RAISE helps intervene in that space and as workers in the welfare team, we’re definitely working to changing that…idea,” said Lily Bissett, a student support officer in charge of running RAISE programmes at Carlingford High School.
She added despite the number of students in the RAISE programme being relatively small in Carlingford, the flow-on effect was significant — where students could share the knowledge with their friends.
Crimes committed by the youth are the highest in the Year 10 age group – where RAISE and Carlingford High School have employed a targeted program for. (Source: ABS)
Public schools are becoming more and more vigilant toward youth mentoring, especially post-COVID. Photo: Mihika Munot.
“Schools can benefit with more male mentors, because females are more likely to seek help… they [young men] don’t want to seek help,” said the school counsellor.
“I applaud the welfare officers for running that program.”
LISTEN: RAISING STUDENT WELLBEING AT CARLINGFORD HIGH
“I think resilience. It really emphasises the challenges that young people are going through are individualised but they’re not alone…and it helps them understanding that they are capable of bouncing back especially when they work through the different topics in RAISE,” Bissett said.
“Everybody’s different…I think I always tell kids to always seek help, I think that’s probably the biggest one. Help is always available and I encourage them to seek help when needed,” they say.
If you need to talk, 24/7 crisis support is available from Lifeline by calling 13 11 14.
