Reply:
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Mr President,
The problem of young offenders remains a matter of concern to the Government. While the proportion of young persons (under 21 years of age) arrested dropped last year, the actual number of such persons arrested has increased.
Specifically, in answer to the Hon Timothy Ha's three questions:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Our policy on tackling the problem of youth crime is threefold: first, to prevent its occurrence through education, family and social services, and publicity; secondly, to arrest and punish the offenders through law enforcement and the criminal justice system; and thirdly, to rehabilitate the offenders, through family, social and correctional services. Many government departments, including the Police, Correctional Services, Education and Social Welfare, join forces to tackle this problem.
The Fight Crime Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Secretary and advises the Administration on measures to fight crime, gives particular attention to the problem of juvenile crime. Its Standing Committee on Young Offenders has commissioned the University of Hong Kong to conduct a research into the social causes of juvenile crime. The results of this research should help the Administration to understand the problem better so as to formulate appropriate counter-
measures.
The Administration recognises the importance of cultivating social and moral values in our young people to prevent them from going astray. Since 1981, the Education Department has issued the "General Guidelines on Moral Education in Schools", which recommends a cross- curricular approach to integrate moral education into the formal and informal school curricula, and extra-curricular activities. Schools have responded positively. In addition, the Department also provides training programmes for teachers and produces resource materials to help schools and teachers implement moral education activities.
The Administration is always keen to improve both the quality and quantity of youth services. The Social Welfare Department is implementing the recommendations of the Working Group on Review of Children and Youth Centre Services, which include: