THE Redlands has recorded a rash of youth crime, with teenagers as young as 14 involved in armed hold-ups, threats to kill, gang assaults and spitting offences.
Nine youths have been charged and police are looking for a gang of up to seven who punched and kicked at man at Cleveland in broad daylight.
University of Queensland criminologist Suzanna Fay said the involvement of teenagers in crime highlights the difficulties that parents face in getting help for children's behavioural issues.
"It's not easy to ask for help and it's not easy to get access to help for parents who might need it," Dr Fay said.
Among those arrested were two boys, aged 15 and 14, who have been charged in connection with an armed robbery at a Redland Bay Road, Capalaba pizza shop on May 23.
They were both charged with one count each of armed robbery in company, entering a premises with the intention to commit an offence and stealing.
In a separate incident on the same day, a 42-year-old man was punched and kicked by five to seven teenagers at Cleveland about 4.30pm.
The man had been walking home from Raby Bay when he was confronted by the youths who fled, apparently when witnessed by another person.
A police spokesman said two 14-year-olds would be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act after incidents involving a Queensland Rail employee and a bus driver.
The QR staff member was allegedly spat on by a girl at Wellington Point station after he directed her to a drinking fountain when she asked for a bottle of water.
On Russell Island, bystanders had intervened when a boy threatened to kill a bus driver by stabbing him in the neck.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl was charged with drink-driving after she was stopped by police on Benfer Road, Victoria Point about 1am on Sunday, May 26.
She was also charged with driving unaccompanied and driving without her car lights on.
Dr Fay said the child welfare system could be a resource for parents but families in the system were at risk of instability or stigmatisation if they asked for help.
"There is not much incentive for parents to use this as a resource if they are needing support in their parenting," she said.
"As for other parenting resources, I think we need to understand more about how accessible they are for parents particularly those who might not have a lot of economic resources to deal with the potential problems they face with parenting."
Dr Fay said there was not much evidence that imposing more severe punishments decreased crime being perpetrated by children.
"There are some very important unintended consequences for children that experience custodial sentences that should be taken into consideration before adopting policy that would increase these kind of penalties," she said. "Exposure to other delinquent youth, withdrawal from school or other legitimate or positive social experiences are two examples of such consequences."
Dr Fay said teenage criminals could be rehabilitated by addressing root causes of offending - like inequality and poverty - and through restorative justice conferences that brought together the offender and the victims.
"These programs highlight the importance of youth offenders being able to take responsibility for their actions," she said. "Even victims of youth crime report that the conference helps them to deal with the effects of being a crime victim."
Also read: Man arrested at school on drug charge
