I am 53 years old and have been active in the community for the past four years. I am the chair of the East Renfrewshire Neighbourhood Watch Association.
I've been the Chair of the East Renfrewshire Neighbourhood Watch since its inception some three years ago. We now have in excess of 7,700 member households and have received four national awards in recognition of what has been described as ‘pioneering work which has taken the concept of NHW to a new and very practical dimension.' In light of the recent recorded crime rates being published, indicating that in East Renfrewshire the rate was down 13% we posed the question as to what residents felt about this on our web site.  The results of the survey were that, Anti Social Behaviour, Vandalism and Graffiti were of major concern. Whilst I welcome the 13% reduction in reported crime in East Renfrewshire, the figures released also show that 72% of crime goes unreported due to a variety of reasons. The police cannot deal with our problems unless they are aware of them, and we must report every crime or offence. These crimes are being committed by teenagers who are, let’s face it still children. How do we deal with the adults buying them drink, or the off sales selling the alcohol to them directly?  How do we make the parents sit up and take responsibility for what their children are doing?
I suffer like most residents from teenagers under the influence of alcohol at weekends, when that child goes home do the parents not see the condition of their child? Should parents not be made to take responsibility for their children’s actions?