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Young people using social media and online gaming rather than hanging out in public places could be the reason youth crime in Jersey is down for a fifth year in a row.
There has been a huge drop in youth crime in the last few years - the Youth Court dealt with 62 cases in 2013, down almost 10% on 2012 and an astonishing 80% less than in 2009. Only three youngsters were sent to the Young Offenders Institution last year and just six went on remand at Greenfields.
Home Affairs Minister Senator Ian Le Marquand said: “There continues to be a significant shift in the recent pattern of levels of youth crime, and this continues to be a very good news story.”
It’s a trend being seen in other jurisdictions and evidence suggests its because more young people are spending time on the internet. A report into Youth Offending in the Island, published last year, suggests on-line games could be stopping boredom which often leads to anti-social behaviour, but there are still no figures on how many young Islanders are committing cyber-crimes.
The report says that there is probably more illegal activity on the internet than anyone knows about with young people able to access sites to buy things like former "legal high" drugs and opening up greater access to extreme pornography.
The Home Affairs department say they recognise there are concerns arising with regard to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, the changing nature of crime, crimes committed on-line, the collection of reliable data about internet crimes and the laws that they have to deal with them.
The Police are starting to measure the extent of internet crime in Jersey and have already flagged up 16 cases of online harassment so far this year, but they do not have a breakdown for cybercrime by children and adults.
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