Australia Security Company Youth Violence Solutions

Australian Security Company

Introduction | Australia Security Company

You might question ‘What has an Australian Security Company has to do with youth violence?’ Well, I felt my work as a security company manager in Australia or as a security professional, and also coming from an African Australian background,  that I may have one or two ideas that could help in solving some of the problems of ‘youth offending in Australia,’ especially in regards to ‘ youths from a 2nd  generation immigrant background’.

The ideas I will be sharing comes from personal experience, and also from what I have witnessed working as a community volunteer, retail security guard and talking to a few other people.

Some of the ideas can be employed to tackle other ‘family, and youth offending’ in the broader Australian society. So, please the concepts should not be restricted to a narrow niche. If you find the ideas useful, then feel free to share the article, your ideas or suggest any helpful tips you might have.

[divider height=”30″ style=”default” line=”default” themecolor=”1″]

Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash

Australian Security Company

[one_second]Ideas | Australia Security Company

 Community Awareness: The State Government should help encourage African- Australians community meetings, that will be attended by parents, elders, community and faith Leaders of various African background, or individuals connected to African-Australian communities. The purpose is to highlight the past and current situation of African youth violence (current and future consequences) and how to eradicate it.

A significant number of parents of these youths have no idea their wards are part of these violent and criminal activities (except when the Police knock at their doors). These meetings will point out to parents and guardians that the situation is real and not some media witch hunt.

Once the parents and communities are aware of the truth, acknowledging that there is a problem of African-Australian youth and ‘gang’ violence and needs to be addressed. All stakeholders must put their hands together and look for a solution to solve this crisis.

Note: I called for African-Australian communities to work with the State Government and Police to help end this violence. The reason is, some African-Australian communities require external assistance to help solve this situation, even though a good number of people may want to deny this.

The Police, Media, Prisons Victoria, Legal Aid, Crime Watch, and other stakeholders should be invited to speak about the over-representation of African Youths in Police, Prison Detention and the Court system. This would enable the parents to hear from people who deal with these situations, and understand how urgently it needs to be addressed.

You can also read some of these helpful articles/blogs:

African Community Welfare Group: The State Government should set up an African community welfare group (or whatever name) within the Victorian Police. Their primary responsibility is to tackle youth crime/violence. A lot of the Police officers that are sent to incidents regarding African youth gang situations easily get accused of “racism”, even when the offender is being caught committing an offence. They sometimes pull the ‘race card’ to intimidate the officer, and the officer feels morally and culturally disarmed and unwilling to attend such call-outs or to make an arrest.

Idea: This African community welfare group should have an outstanding number of Police officers from African, Indian, Polynesians, or multicultural backgrounds so that they can be culturally balanced to tackle and respond to African or any multicultural youth violence as it is being reported.[/one_second]

[one_second]Be Ahead of the Game: By having such a community welfare group (with a good number of African officers in it), you have disarmed the offender of their standard weapon, the race card, that they usually use to get away with the crime.

Misunderstanding: When many of these youth “gang” members are confronted by Caucasian officers, they tend to feel that it is a racial issue, even though it isn’t. A Multicultural Task Force will help resolve this and take away any excuses these offenders may have.

Community Volunteers: Local African/multicultural volunteers should be supported by the Government to patrol hot-spots such as; shopping centres, sporting and events venues, community parks, eateries that are known for having these troubled youths attending. This is a very effective method, a lot of the volunteers should be mainly drawn from the African and multicultural communities, but any individual should be encouraged to volunteer. Having parents, guardians, relatives or someone who knows some of these youths as part of the volunteer group is a good idea. It will help have a familiar face speak to them, and it deters them from being unruly, uncultured, disrespectful or even violent.

Government Motivation: From my personal experience, I have observed a significant number of African Australians parents are usually not willing to take up volunteering positions as they fear they will lose out on their work/pay. So, that is why you might find some of the parents and guardians not being active in volunteering. If the current situation is turning into a crisis, I will encourage the Government to pay some stipend to anyone who chooses to volunteer, after the third time within a fortnight/month. I also recommend volunteers from other ethnicities be encouraged to join too.

Job Creation and Opportunities: An idle minded person who refuses to get available work could easily be influenced as a tool for criminals.

Employment Agencies/Advisers | Australia Security Company

These agencies/advisers should also be invited into Community Meetings to help advise parents, guardians, and families on job opportunities for their teenagers, i.e. McDonald’s, Coles, Woolworths, etc.  The more the youths’ minds are engaged with work or education, the less likely crime will appeal to them, as they will feel a sense of pride, responsibility and purpose for living.

 Education, Vocation, Hobbies: When youths are encouraged and offered opportunities to have education, participate in sporting activities and encouraged to have hobbies, then a lot of these youth gang issues will be a thing of the past. Education, vocation and hobbies are vital tools that can be deployed to direct the minds of the youths into something meaningful. It gives them hope for the future; it gives them a sense of acceptance in the community; it makes them feel valued and a team player. And it also prepares them for adulthood.[/one_second]

[divider height=”30″ style=”default” line=”default” themecolor=”1″]

Role Model Pairing | Australia Security Company

Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash

Australia Security Company

 Mentorship: I strongly believe in this from personal experience. A good number of parents of these troubled youths came into Australia from countries that have been in turmoil or experienced traumatic conflicts (no excuse). So, when the parents, guardians migrated to Australia, they tended to focus mainly on work and have forgotten about parenting or spending quality time with their children.

Why such a focus on work? Because some of the parents and guardians have unhealed trauma themselves which they find difficult to understand, whilst integrating into a new and different culture and society than what they are used to. So, their job is a means of escape, and the result is what we see on the streets, ‘troubled youths’ who have not experienced love and emotional support from their homes and are now looking for such outside their homes through youth gangs and crime.

Suggested Way Forward | Australia Security Company

I will encourage the State Government to engage older “reputable” local citizens, from different cultural background to help act as mentors to as many African and multicultural parents who might be willing to say “I would like to learn one or two things from the mentor; how do I talk to my child, spend time with them, raise them to be better citizens of Australia, etc?” As an African Australian who migrated to Australia many years ago, I struggled to integrate and understand the basics to be a good husband and father, because I did not have positive role models around me while growing up.

I was lucky to meet a good White Australian man, who for many years acted as a mentor, role model and father to me in Australia, and that helped me to be a better man, husband and father. I honoured him in my recently released book ‘Security Adventure Service.’

The more parents, guardians and youths that have access to mentors and role models, and are open to ask for help; the more the local community will be willing to support them with advice, tips and life-changing experiences. None of us are too old to learn, and both parties can learn one or two things from each other.

So, once again I will encourage the State Government to start an initiative/programme of mentorship and role models for new immigrants from troubled backgrounds or struggling families in the local communities.

Youths: Youth should also be paired with positive role models from different backgrounds to help mentor and guide them, and also inspire them to be the best they can be. This positive ‘mentor/youth’ relationship can help troubled teenagers see great opportunities that Australia has for everyone who works hard in a legitimate manner.

Conclusion | Australia Security Company

 The Media: The media has a significant role to play. If the media can also share positive stories of individuals from all backgrounds, who have lived a life of crime, overcome adversity, trauma and pain to become successful or positive members of our society, then that would begin to help. Instead of always focusing on criminals which encourages others to crave such notoriety.

A significant number of these ‘youth gang members’ are yearning to be better people, they want to succeed in life. If they are exposed to inspirational stories and TV specials of individuals who have risen from the dust to be a success in Australia, then it will inspire them!

Such stories could be from people of immigrant and all backgrounds – we just need to inspire for good!

I write this piece as a concerned citizen with real on ground security and volunteer experience in regards to youth violence and how a troubled personal life can be changed for the good of all Australians.

Job Moses is a seasoned Australian security practitioner and consultant with vast experience in troubled youths-positive transformation, and great insights into African-Australian communities.

[button title=”Check Our Services” link=”http://n7j.16e.mywebsitetransfer.com/our-services/” target=”_blank” align=”” icon=”” icon_position=”” color=”” font_color=”” size=”2″ full_width=”” class=”” download=”” rel=”” onclick=””]

Written by Job Moses