2 weeks Ago
The rowdy, often violent behaviour of youths in Limassol is becoming worryingly frequent. In the last 10 days there have been several incidents of violence by gangs of youths, requiring the police to restore order and to make some 20 arrests. Many of those who were arrested were minors.
The worst incident unfolded outside a bakery in Ayia Phyla, where an estimated 200 youths had gathered, supposedly to mark the 100-day countdown before the start of their military service. The gathering degenerated into a brawl involving club-wielding youths who threw stones at each other and started fires on the street which became in accessible to cars. Police eventually restored order while the fire brigade was needed to put out the fires.
Three days later on Monday, rival gangs of youths gathered outside a church in Pyrgos for a fight and a youth ended up needing hospital treatment after being beaten up. Police arrested three teenagers the following day. Then, late on Wednesday night, in what is becoming a regular occurrence, a delivery rider was attacked by people on motorbikes and had a small bag of money stolen.
Τhe problem of youth delinquency is no longer restricted to football grounds but is becoming increasingly evident elsewhere, although most crowd trouble is at matches in Limassol. It would appear that violent behaviour by youths will not end with the introduction of the government’s tough measures at football grounds, because it does not only take place before and after matches. Hooligans no longer need the excuse of a football match to display violent behaviour.
Many are asking what the causes for this surge in youth violence are. For years the overwhelming majority of Cypriot youths, although rather loud and boisterous, were generally well-behaved and rarely caused trouble or turned violent. What has changed in the last few years? Has there been a breakdown of the family, lack of discipline at schools, no respect for others, an erosion of values, greater income inequality, toxic social media influence? And why are most outbreaks of anti-social and violent behaviour in Limassol, Cyprus’ most prosperous and thriving city? We do not have the explanations.
This is probably a task for experts in social behaviour psychologists, sociologists, social workers and educationalists. There are plenty of such experts in our universities and a study into the causes of the surge in anti-social and aggressive behaviour by youths could be helpful in helping address the problem. Admittedly, we cannot expect simplistic cause and effect explanation because a combination of diverse factors could be at play.
Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, speaking a day after the violence in Ayia Phyla, admitted there was a “surge in youth delinquency recently”, linking it with approaching Easter period, when many youths engage in pyromania, in the name of tradition. Hartsiotis called on everyone – local authorities, parents, teachers and residents – to assist the effort of the police. “Each can contribute in their own way to restrict this bad phenomenon, which has shown a surge recently,” he said.
Can this bad phenomenon be restricted by the more active involvement of parents, teachers and local authorities, or is the situation veering out of control? There have been plans to set up a penitentiary for underage offenders, but these are moving at a snail’s pace, the authorities, it appears, not fully committed to the project. In a letter to the legislature Hartsiotis said the centre would be in Menoyia and would fully comply with international conventions, directives and international standards that provide for exclusively child-centred approaches for dealing with underage offenders. Nobody likes to see teenagers placed in a prison-type establishment, but there must be some corrective facility for youngsters, even if it remains empty.
It could act as a deterrent against the aggressive and violent behaviour by youths which have been on the rise..
