26% of children start delinquent behavior between the ages of 8 and 14, while delinquency manifests itself mainly after the age of 15. In 2023, 10,776 minors committed illegal acts, 1,100 of which were up to 11 years old and 1,400 between 12 and 14 years old. One in four violations is related to theft, and one in five to drug trafficking, while the tendency of girls to participate in juvenile gangs is increasing.

The statistics of the Hellenic Police headquarters on juvenile delinquency were presented at an interactive educational event on mobilization against violence, entitled “Violence: Feel! Speak! Act!”, co-organized by the Holy Diocese of Thessaloniki and the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Central Macedonia, with the participation of approximately 1,000 students of the 1st and 2nd grades of Lyceum, from 13 school units.

In one month, 1,353 arrests of minors

“The cases handled by the Police in the first eight months of 2023 exceed those recorded in the whole of 2022. We had 1,400 cases of violence between teenagers, which reached the Thessaloniki courtrooms in 2022, while 1,179 cases of juvenile crime were recorded in the statistics of the ELAS Headquarters for the year 2021. In this context, 1,750 juvenile defendants were referred to trial, of which 233 were minors. girls. Only in September 2023, 1,353 arrests of minors were made and 1,201 criminal cases were filed”, said the Psychologist of the Hellenic Police and member of the Negotiating Team of the Hellenic Police as a mental health consultant, making the relevant presentation. Athanasios Kanakis.

Of the offenses committed by minors, 25% are related to theft21% in traffic violations, 19% in drugs, 8% in robberies, 6% in sports law, 3% in damage to foreign property, 3% in bodily harm, 2% in sexual freedom, 1% in threats, 1% in insult-defamation, 1% in disturbance of domestic peace and 1% in frauds.

One report of sexual crimes per week

Regarding cases involving minor victims, according to the report for 2023 of the Directorate of Minors Protection of Thessaloniki “26 incidents of violence between minors were recorded (beatings, assaults), 49 cases of a sexual nature were reported (rape, seduction, abuse in carelessness, attraction to carelessness, carelessness for pay) with minor victims”, while these incidents do not include incidents that are reported directly either to the Prosecutor’s Office or in the Child’s Smile. “In the service one complaint of a sexual nature occurs every week and one incident between adults is reported every two weeks”noted Mr. Kanakis.

Better than other countries in hard crime

As a positive element is counted that hard delinquency in the age of under 18 years so far remains at quite low levels in Greek territory compared to the rest of the European Union and Western countries, both qualitatively, in terms of the nature of the offenses, and quantitatively, in terms of the frequency of their commission. The same happens in those cases where gangs of minors commit common criminal law offenses in an organized manner, such as thefts, robberies, aggravated damages.

As regards those serious cases, where minors or groups of minors intertwine with each other with particular severitysometimes causing dangerous bodily harm to their members, the Greek Police records high rates of investigations.

More and more girls in juvenile gangs

“Unfortunately, we have a new phenomenonwhere girls are now involved in the groups and gangs of minors, something we did not see in the past. In groups of 10-20 people, mostly aged 13-18, there are usually 3-4 girls participating which proceed to violent actions, damages, attacks, bodily harm, beatings and may end up in bloody fights, either inside the school or outside”explained Mr. Kanakis.

The decision of the victims plays an important role in the escalation of clashes to hide the attacks they receive resulting in new fights in retaliation. “Of course, the role of social media is very important, because that’s where we see that abusers focus and project their exploits and, of course, imitation is created for other children,” he added.

The pandemic period is considered a turning pointwhere there is an increase in incidents of bullying and violence, after a long period away from schools.

The generative causes of juvenile delinquency include exposure to abusive behaviordysfunctions in the family environment, strained parental relationships, absence of a parent – literally or figuratively, delinquent parents, parents with mental disorders, too strict or too flexible parenting methods, lack of meaningful communication, absence of boundaries, aggressive behavior patterns, experimentation, need for demonstration and confirmation .

Metropolitan Philotheos: To feel to each other, to talk to each other

To feel, to speak, to act, the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Philotheos urged the students, referring to the title chosen for the event. “To be able to feel the other means to offer a lifeline, a possibility not to be lost, a possibility to make a new beginning in his life. Violence is what leads man to loss, to loss. To feel the other means that I can save him. And when I feel that someone feels me, it means that I have hope, I’m not lost,” he said. He further explained how important it is to be able to see strangers as our own and not to feel our own as strangers. “Talk to each other first and then let others talk to you. Allow others to talk to you. Violence is overcome when you can leave room for the other person to talk to you, to tell you what he feels, to tell you how he lives, what concerns him”, he pointed out.

He finally emphasized that action that prevents violence is needed. “We must act effectively and decisivelyso that these phenomena that we see not only here in our place, our city, Thessaloniki, but also more widely throughout the world, […] by feeling for each other, talking to each other, taking initiatives for each other, being able to prevent them because that’s how the world changes“, he underlined.

“Let’s all come together to change our mindset, to change our school”, invited the students the Regional Director of Education of Central Macedonia, Alexandros Koptsis, explaining that the State with psychologists, social workers, school life counselors is on their side. “Come, you children, to these institutions, open your soul and your heart, talk to your parents, talk to the teachers about the problem, talk to the psychologists at school. Everything can be solved with a good mood and with love and solidarity, if we respect each other,” he said. “We grew up in a time when we handed you this world with many mistakes. We are sure you too can hand down much better to the next generations, because you deserve so much more than us. With more knowledge, with special knowledge, with more emotion,” he added.

“You are the ones who can become the barricade in the rampage of violence that is going to destroy our lives”, said the vice-prefect of Thessaloniki and Olympic gold medalist Voula Patoulidou, addressing the students. “You have to be the role model”he stressed, adding that anger is not a good counselor, it empties the soul and “a dead soul is not worthy of you”. He also spoke about the importance of teamwork, explaining that “when I was on the podium there was a team behind me that supported me, the team that gives you a hand when you’re down.”

THE Angel Charisteasformer international soccer player and current deputy regional governor of Volunteering and Youth in the Central Macedonia Region cited the example of the National Team’s historic success at EURO 2004 to talk about teamwork. “When I went to the national team, the players didn’t talk to each other. We changed that and agreed to put the National team above everything else. We used to sing the teams’ slogans – Aris, PAOK, PAO, AEK, Olympiakos – after the games of the national team in the locker room. Everyone on their team. Because the message that counts in life is cooperation. Alone no one can achieve anything”he said.

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist answered the questions asked by the students Alexios Lappas, while between the speeches anti-violence videos created by schools were shown.