The 15 year old sister of a teen tagger, Pihema Cameron, who died after a confrontation with Bruce Emery, was upset that his sentence wasn't longer than the 4.25 years Mr Emery was given. She said she wanted to rip the man's eyes out.
Aquitania said since the killing she did very little with her life.
"I just stay home, bum from my dad, get some money, go get stoned, drink alcohol and do whatever," she said.
Well, at least she's not vowing to take up a life of tagging. But hearing this, I'm wondering if the parents need to take on board that drugs and alcohol and whatever is not the best way to deal with grief.
And given this was a public statement, will we hear from the Police, CYFS or Dr Kiro on this matter?
There do seem to be many mysteries to resolve - why was Pihema a tagger, and how often did he do it? What is the family environment like that allows a 15 year old to access booze and drugs? The solo mother was quoted as not even being around to look after the children:
She said as a solo mother of four she had gone to Australia to earn more money and when she was in Australia she learned Pihema had died.
I'm going out on a limb here and making a few assumptions based on a few disturbing quotes in the article. Maybe this point isn't about this family in particular, maybe it's more general. I can only go with what is reported.
And based on what is reported, Pihema's sister appears to be heading in exactly the same direction as he took. Her current attitude is that there is always some-one else to blame for where your life will end up. Does she have anyone that cares for her enough to teach her otherwise? I hope so.
Source: [PDF Download of 4MB] TGIF 13 Feb 2009
Aquitania said since the killing she did very little with her life.
"I just stay home, bum from my dad, get some money, go get stoned, drink alcohol and do whatever," she said.
Well, at least she's not vowing to take up a life of tagging. But hearing this, I'm wondering if the parents need to take on board that drugs and alcohol and whatever is not the best way to deal with grief.
And given this was a public statement, will we hear from the Police, CYFS or Dr Kiro on this matter?
There do seem to be many mysteries to resolve - why was Pihema a tagger, and how often did he do it? What is the family environment like that allows a 15 year old to access booze and drugs? The solo mother was quoted as not even being around to look after the children:
She said as a solo mother of four she had gone to Australia to earn more money and when she was in Australia she learned Pihema had died.
I'm going out on a limb here and making a few assumptions based on a few disturbing quotes in the article. Maybe this point isn't about this family in particular, maybe it's more general. I can only go with what is reported.
And based on what is reported, Pihema's sister appears to be heading in exactly the same direction as he took. Her current attitude is that there is always some-one else to blame for where your life will end up. Does she have anyone that cares for her enough to teach her otherwise? I hope so.
Source: [PDF Download of 4MB] TGIF 13 Feb 2009
Could just be typical teenage dramatics and self-indulgence and she'll come right. Could be it's no different from what she'd be doing if her brother hadn't been killed, and Emery is a handy excuse for personal failure. Either way, it doesn't look like she need expect any useful parenting from her mother.
ReplyDelete"I just stay home, bum from my dad, get some money, go get stoned, drink alcohol and do whatever,"
ReplyDeleteAnd what did she do before her brother was killed? My guess is, all of the above. But now she has something to blame it on.
"What is the family environment like that allows a 15 year old to access booze and drugs"
ReplyDeleteI would think that you would find that this is now the case in the majority of New Zealand households.
"he said as a solo mother of four she had gone to Australia to earn more money"
I have found this happening more and more - I met at least 4 people who were going to OZ to work the Sep-Dec time frame and leaving the kids with partners or relatives in order to make more money for the new year.
With NZ wages continuing to decline more and more people will be taking this option. Will we end up like one of these countries where a very large percentage of the population works overseas and sends money home?
Sb
I would think that you would find that this is now the case in the majority of New Zealand households.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a feel for what the percentage is?
Do you see any correlation between this and family violence, short term relationships, broken marriages, teen pregnancy (and teen abortion), youth crime, low literacy, welfare mentality and an emerging "underclass"?
"Do you have a feel for what the percentage is?"
ReplyDeleteMy comment is based on interactions with my teenage daughters friends and aquantiances. They all come from upper-middle households, some of them attended catholic schools ( like my daughters did), some are from single parent homes some not - in other words a mixed bunch.
All of them seemed to be able to get hold of what ever they wanted (drinks, smokes and controlled substances) with ease and did so without any real consideration that they were banned.
More than once I was challenged that if I came up with the money they could get any drug I named with a 1 hour start. I never took them up on it as they seemed too certain that they would win.
"Do you see any correlation between this ......"
Nope.
"and an emerging "underclass"" what is this emerging underclass? we have had an underclass for a very long time, that fact that the MSM did not find it news worthy did not mean that it was not there. The underclass emerged a long time ago!
Sb
The underclass emerged a long time ago!
ReplyDeleteThinking back to Helen Clark's reaction, I'm sure you will find by next election that Labour will be keen to define ground zero as the 2008 election :-)