‘Smack the kids out’: Sydney’s Hamptons set turn on teens
In one of Sydney’s well-to-do communities, animosity towards teens has been expoding on local Facebook groups. After a tough year for young people in the area including a spate of suicides, what’s driving all the hate?
NSW
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Scattered among recommendations for plumbers and discussions about the best fish and chips on the Pittwater peninsula are an alarming number of posts on the Facebook pages of Northern Beaches communities that allude to a dark undercurrent of mistrust and derision aimed at one of the area’s most vulnerable groups — its teens.
There has been a growing hostility among locals towards teens in the area and a perception that youth crime is skyrocketing. It’s a problem that pre-dates COVID, but one that seems to have festered and accelerated through it.
Discussions on the fiercely parochial pages, which have quietened of late but were almost a daily occurrence in recent months, often descend into bitter slanging matches between those calling for blood and those pleading for calm.
In February, a poster on one local page called out a group of teenagers the member had come across as “suspicious” because they were wearing hoodies on a warm day.
“Surely most people would find it unbearable to dress like that on a hot day,” the post read in part. “Isn’t it suspicious behaviour to be concealing your face in this weather? Could parents please ask their sons why they would need a hoodie in hot weather? I would wonder that if any of my sons went out with one at the moment.”
The comments, which were eventually turned off by the page’s moderator, were a mix of blasting teens and excoriating the poster.
“It’s people like you who cause the stereotyping of our kids!” one resident replied.
Another poster complained of young boys using offensive language.
“A bunch of teenagers are inside the playground at Village park using “f” and “c” language and trash everywhere. I have to take my kid out,” they posted, going on to suggest facial recognition cameras be installed at parks to help police find the kids.
There were more than 100 comments on the post with some telling the poster she should “smack the kids out” and another suggesting taking photos of the kids and posting them online so their parents can see.
The increased scrutiny of teens comes at a tough time for young people in the area. Many are still suffering after a spate of youth suicides rocked the area last year. They also endured the Christmas lockdown after the Avalon COVID cluster.
One local teenager told Saturday Extra it felt like he was always having to look over his shoulder. “We’re not all bad,” he said. “Everyone thinks we’re doing something bad all the time and it’s not right.”
Police told Saturday Extra youth crime rates on the Northern Beaches had remained steady in recent years and the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research backs that up, with reports showing youth crime has been stable over the past two years, with the area having a much lower incidence rate than other parts of Sydney and much lower than the state average.
“Northern Beaches Police Area Command has not seen a significant increase in reported youth crime, however, our officers remain focused on addressing any incidents that occur,” Northern Beaches Commander, Detective Superintendent Patrick Sharkey, said, adding that in response to the increase in community concern, they stepped up patrols over the summer.
“This is why we initiated Operation Summer Safe — to proactively engage with the community, including our youth, and ensure we are putting our best foot forward in preventing crime,” he said.
During that four-month blitz, “police conducted more than 850 business inspections of licensed premises, issued more than 1000 move-on directions, conducted more than 1500 person and/or vehicle searches and more than 600 bail compliance checks, and recorded more than 500 juvenile diversions,” Det Supt Sharkey said. Of those searches and move-on orders, 45 per cent were juveniles.
While the perception of increased crime rates among young people might be incorrect, there is widespread acknowledgment there are groups of young offenders who are causing trouble. It’s not a problem isolated to the Northern Beaches but there have been recent incidents that have been a very visible reminder.
A few years ago Jennifer Moody’s son Andre, now 18, was attacked outside his home by youths from another local school. The harassment escalated with Andre labelled a ‘snitch’ when Jennifer spoke to the police.
Moody was angry after that initial attack but her anger eventually turned into concern and she decided something needed to be done to fill the void of activities for kids in coastal towns.
“We have to take into consideration the fact that there is nothing on the Beaches for them to do,” she said. “The older generation might say ‘well, they’ve got the beach, what do you mean, there’s so much to do here?
“Then they complain that they hang around the shopping centres. Well, where else are they going to go? If they’ve got hoodies on, all of a sudden they’re gangsters and they’re carrying knives. Not all of them do that.”
Determined to do something rather than just comment on posts, Moody took to her local community Facebook page and called on others in the area to join a working group designed to tackle the problem head on. She was overwhelmed by the response she received and the ideas that have come in before their first meeting.
The group, which so far numbers about 80, will soon gather and each will be given individual areas to research and address in the hopes of creating spaces for kids in the region.
Moody understands where some of the anger and judgment is coming from in these online forums. As a parent who has suffered through their child being attacked and bullied, she knows where that frustration lies.
“I know that people get angry at the pitchfork mob but they’re desperate,” she said.
“I’ve been there. They’re desperate to protect their kids, to scare the kids away and to stop it happening.”
But she wants to keep those people out of her group for the time being – not until they’ve straddled the anger and moved on to wanting to work towards a solution.
Another actively working to find and implement fixes across the Northern Beaches is local councillor Kylie Ferguson. An ardent mental health and youth advocate, Ferguson believes crime rates in the area might have stayed the same but thinks some teens have become more aggressive and are causing more damage.
But she says many of the comments she has seen online have been “toxic” and are doing more damage than good.
“I think COVID bought out a lot of anger and frustration in people and now I think people are just being really toxic and really negative,” she said.
Ferguson has worked to get funding for local basketball courts and skate parks, but says there is more to be done.
“I’ll do anything for the youth, I just think they’re needing a bit of love,” she said.
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