The Singapore Children's Society (SCS) has seen an annual 5 per cent increase in the number of youths joining its 17 drop-in centres, said its youth service centres' director Carol Balhetchet at yesterday's launch of the VWO's guidebook on setting up a youth drop-in centre.
Against the backdrop of youth crime concerns, she felt centres are judged by performance indicators such as the number of youths that remain in a certain programme. While youth gangs are more like "neighborhood cliques", Dr Balhetchet added youths "can be a force to reckon with as a group."
Going forward, she said the SCS may step up efforts to reach out to these cliques. The number of youths arrested for rioting increased from 468 in 2009 to 531 last year, although the total number of youths arrested for crimes fell from 4,271 in 2009 to 4,176 last year.
Seventeen-year-old Afi Hidayat, who studies at Beatty Secondary, joined one of the drop-in centres last year after being invited by a friend.
He visits the centre thrice a week and is part of an eight-member break dancing group which performs at SCS' charity events. "Through here, we get to show our talent. I can find people with the same interest and get to express myself (in a way) which words can't describe," said Afi.
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