Pubdate: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 Source: Dublin People (Ireland) Copyright: 2006, Dublin People Contact: http://www.dublinpeople.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4374 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG AND PRISON FUTURE FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH EARLY school leavers from disadvantaged areas are seriously at risk of becoming involved in crime, according to prison officials, community workers and local politicians. Both Merchants Quay Ireland and the Governor of Mountjoy Prison say the vast majority of people in prison and with drug problems have had little or no secondary education. Governor John Lonergan of Mountjoy told Southside People that a whopping 94 per cent of inmates left school before reaching 16 and over half of all prisoners are semi-illiterate. "School leaving is certainly a very clear indicator that a young person is already at risk," he said. "It is not automatic that if they are an early school leaver they are going to be involved in drugs and crime. "But education or the lack of it is certainly a major contributing factor. It certainly highlights that there is potential for difficulty down the line. "So I would totally agree with anyone who would say that many young people who have no secondary education are more at risk of becoming involved in crime and drugs." According to research carried out on behalf of Mountjoy Prison, a total of 75 per cent of prisoners come from Dublin's six most disadvantaged areas. "The general areas that were identified to be blackspots from the research were the North Inner City, the South Inner City and the old Ballymun flats complex," said Governor Lonergan. "On the Southside of the Liffey, Oliver Bond flats, Dolphin's Barn flats, a small part of the Crumlin area and certain parts of Ballyfermot and Chapelizod were identified. "Paul O'Malley did research in Mountjoy in 1986, 1996 and 1997. It was a very comprehensive piece of research but the weakness now is that it is eight-years-old. "But the same blackspots are providing the same results for the high number of people ending up in Mountjoy. It has changed only slightly. New areas would have come on stream, such as parts of Finglas, Clondalkin and Tallaght. "But generally we still have the same blackspots; they are still supplying us with a huge number of prisoners." Governor Lonergan believes regeneration and education are key factors in tackling the ongoing problem of young people being involved in crime and drugs. "What percentage of people from the old flats complex in Ballymun, graduate to DCU, which is only 200-300 metres away?" he asked. "That is the challenge: can we bring children through the second level of education and then on to the third level? "You have to support the parents and you have to change the whole culture of the area as well in terms of its social status." Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland backs up many of Governor Lonergan's observations. He says that the majority of drug addicts he has worked with have had no secondary education. He also wants to see the Government focusing more attention on poverty in disadvantaged areas to prevent more young people getting caught up in drug addiction. "The biggest common dominator amongst a lot of people that use our needle exchange is that they are early school leavers," he said. "I really do believe that if you can retain and support people in education, to even just stay in for second level, they have a chance of doing OK. "I would like to see drug prevention focused much more on supporting families and supporting anti-poverty initiatives. It would certainly undermine a lot of the demand for drugs. "It's not by chance that drug users are most prevalent in areas of poverty. So I think that real prevention is not to mention drugs at all - real prevention is supporting people in poverty; it's about supporting people in families and to keep kids in school." According to this summer's National Education Welfare Board Attendance Report, one in every five primary school students in the most disadvantaged primary schools missed 20 or more school days compared to one in every 16 primary school students in the least disadvantaged schools. It was no great surprise to Independent TD Tony Gregory that the report confirmed that areas of economic disadvantage have the worst school attendance records. Deputy Gregory also believes that some children in disadvantaged areas get involved in crime and drugs because of increasing social disadvantage in underprivileged areas throughout Dublin. "One follows logically from the other," he says. "If you examine where the early school leavers are, 99 per cent of them are in schools serving disadvantaged areas. It follows that there is a link with social disadvantage and early school leaving. "That goes on to compound the problem; the child leaves early because of the disadvantage in the family background and living environment. "The child goes out of school and is more likely to get involved in anti-social behaviour, drug abuse and crime. The way to tackle it is to eliminate social disadvantage. "We have the second most unequal society in the world, we are told. While we are very affluent, some communities are, relatively speaking, very poor. "If you don't address that and put resources into disadvantaged areas, you will inevitably have many early school leavers going from one problem to another whether it's drug abuse or crime. "But certainly they won't have a chance to better themselves; the only way to get out of a situation of disadvantage is through education and becoming qualified and eventually getting a decent job."