When children become involved in anti-social behaviour, it is often as a result of either bad parenting and/or they have simply ‘got in’ with the wrong crowd. Peer pressure can be extremely powerful when you’re young and, even though children may well have been brought up to hold decent values and to understand the concept of respect, they can still get into trouble and so blame cannot always be laid on the parents.

Nevertheless, parents themselves have a duty to try to ensure that their child is not engaging in activities deemed to be anti-social in nature or committing criminal offences.

Common Problems
Anti-social behaviour by children can manifest itself in a variety of ways but some of the more common problems include:

Noise nuisance
Verbal abuse, harassment and threatening behaviour
Assault
Criminal damage to shops, cars and property
Throwing missiles
Joyriding
Vandalism and graffiti
Underage drinking or drug abuse

Measures To Tackle Anti-Social Behaviour In Children
Although an individual member of the public cannot apply for the likes of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), the police, local authorities and registered landlords can and there are also other legal measures which the relevant authorities can take. Here is a breakdown of what each course of action means.

Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC)
This is a voluntary agreement which is drawn up between somebody who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and the local authority or police. In signing the contract, the offender has made a commitment not to continue with any further instances of such behaviour and, if they break this contract, they can then be served with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)
This will usually be issued if either a child has broken an ABC or where their behaviour is causing alarm or distress to others. It prevents the offender from engaging in specific anti-social activities and/or going to certain area or associating with certain named people. An ASBO can be issued to a child as young as 10 and they can last for a minimum of 2 years. You can also be arrested if you break an ASBO.

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