Teen Offenders in the Wilderness: Lost Boys of New Zealand

right now we're like in karma and taranaki we're basically in their life middle of Nui as quiet real quiet we've got a channel for doing a robbery right fighting in dumb little stuff they were just bored and nothing to do my mum she reckons that I'm just gonna end up in jail and everywhere I want to prove my my mom I just want to make her proud one day he gives me something too far for us please [Music] look well Wow okay I'm coming oh cool I stood vacant houses still cars smoke dope and I was Bob Marley sidekick when I smuggle dope me was all might bother me no mom I got namely ruthless yeah well I sure was a little bit late ruthless posture what sit here good boy this is my choice to do more crowds of I think I got into trouble cuz I was bored and angry half the time sorry my girlfriend's ah without with dinner Steve she just bad news I don't very lucky there top there without will Lily and then Ariel and stole over at the moment I love mothers ones that the cooking already Lopez mom really wants a little cook more that he sit us down more than anything there his hopes and dreams and that he can learn to control his compulsive boomerang and make the right decisions most of all I just want seem happy Wow she's cookie Smith off Wow okay guys I'm just gonna do a little bit of a rundown on what the next three weeks it's gonna look like you are here because you're just starting to make a bit of a mess of your lives we've created this program so that we can hopefully help you guys back on track your lives an order so you don't end up and lock up at the moment you're at that low end of the youth justice system if you get it wrong continue to get it wrong you end up in residences believe me you do not want to spend three to six months in a reasonably my social worker actually our let's go on listen I took the opportunity to learn something out of it we know more don't like to be a farmer or a mechanic I saw the opportunity to start a program that I believed would work I believe that a world news program combined with a residential program combined with a mentoring program with three it speaks put together and could make a good news program folks fun to write people to work alongside I'll tell face he came out once to the TV well I want a car bonus please start I lucky lucky OC you know just hope other homophily I used to be a resident here about 20-some years ago when it was a rehab for teenagers so I came back to visit and it was a new program and yeah and then ended up coming back to work here I guess just my personal experience going through that motivates me to try and make that experience different for someone else kicking off on about half an hour we're gonna take off from here and hit it out so these turn a key push country so we've got quite a contrived in front of us once we get out there we'll be throwing APEC's on and hitting off for a shrimp it's true but a native bush and through a bit of scrub country the bush belongs to you belongs to the people in New Zealand respect that your food it's gonna last you to Thursday that's what we call dehydrated food tastes like and those many how you cook it just tastes like you're obviously bright switched on kids we've made the choice to be here so make them much you all make mistakes do my cock-ups you'll piss me off so that's four hours from here you're gonna hate my step don't elaborate no in nature these no cops around they can tell you what to do I'll leave a cold bath let a white cop off what actually cities so we do cutting it I was in a family home with Cal stands dead and I remember at the time being real confused about it I don't understand why these people cared that much and I felt like they kind of rescued me you know I guess I thought about that heaps last week when we went to court and kind of fought for Cal Stern to have him come into the program rather than go be locked up for a month there's quite a similar beginning to his relationship to start as the beginning I had I was turning into a little going the way that Montana Davies with Roberto bola leave he's following kake Reba so when he's out he don't last long when he's out a lot of it's mom's fault while always we try and fight like my whole life she's me Tyler like Charlie give us what we want I usually get up to trouble hair I'm like the bad people get away steadily stilly labs a clean Louisville that facelift on my dog a lair Bobby houses delayed must await it to all of it stacked up two cops lost a cop cars okay we reverse the meter cars so I had to chop a little police car lot they love the blue power start a car say I don't know I don't wanna see like dating him you know house in the south over like a lead they took with the court and those are a week of residents and starting starts unlucky who's just late starter lucky you just wizard for ages I think though we have to chuck any thinking in our way we don't have to check anything in these single bags I started getting into trouble with burglaries in it but I did start when I started hanging out with the wrong crowd I did look out to my brother for but until he started you know in trouble indeed when I moved back to her he started getting me into trouble [Music] to get here today and begin and see you all here feels great and you guys all here for a reason we chose you guys and we believe that you can get a lot out of this my challenge boys is to look forward focus forward there's a lot of we can dwell on we can talk about who's for who and who robbed what they start thinking about what we're gonna do in the future [Music] my bags not even done properly and it took me like an OG was alright had a mean sleep after a long walk pretty tiring from a young age would go to parties drink through drugs all of that was readily available well I guess I wasn't bored cuz I was making my own fun but it was fun that was giving me into trouble I went to adult prison at 17 years old real young I guess what people think is that you can impose like respect for society on someone but it never works everyone I knew from boot camp went to jail every single person it really starts to like strip yourself worth away from you you know you see all those jail teto's that are this system and the world and like I guess those like really represent what happens to and then solos when we going to put each one of you on your own and your own separate campsite alongside the lake so you have the lake at the front the forest at your back and you're gonna be there for two nights in two days you're gonna have to build your own shelter and you look after yourself for two days and two nights my paid so I just put some friends and to make it comfy a despot on he was just getting homesick mom and brothers and sisters when I go home I'm tending school and just don't hang out with the wrong crowd and do something kind of wakings and they're like gone to the farm or something do some work out tea mm-hmm okay first when I came here I didn't think that I was gonna last like every week hmm I achieved I'll just get a little bit home school itself cuz when I first came here it was hard ass or just I was just thinking about just stuck my sleeping bag all the crowds just sleeping a little girl lookie hey boss lady boy beat Facebook making baby food normal food nice to see you know a little love of the state being yeah oh my mom's like um do you know that were all there be war our Bailey's you see loves she loves Bailey's and nice she just named me after they should like ah hey I don't ride it I only drink Cody's y'all ready I even wrote it um bloody night to my mum I read a message just some saying that I'm a sir no I really don't miss either now it's good being away from home day is some stress off my mum she's probably loving that I'm gone a but she doesn't show it probably think that I'm less you Bridget she doesn't even other boys down eh probably missing me now I miss him all my jokes I don't even know what I'm talking with this I'm starting to be like a little bit more respectful toddlers now it's mean it's mean you saw stuff up but some boys like they sorted it out and then they have another beef the next day with someone else they haven't learnt their lesson you know it's like no oh hey didn't need to say when do it again well I can't wait to see the boys straight out yeah the sarang's face is a turning point especially with these guys initially I think I've learned something about themselves that they actually are maybe a little bit tougher than being they need to be but now it's about the abusing that resilience and that toughness in a good way I just came from maricella yeah and getting out the bush hmm and get to hang out with the boys and stuff in it again mmm a little bit proud of myself in for coming back in because at one point I wanted to walk off and go home the scary part was little zhuzh dock and what fire was going up I felt proud of myself I picked up a hippie boy thanks for the guitar weird today in the water the dairy industry has a lot to account for because it's not just the factories closing today I was shutting down the jobs it's the farms all been bought up now by you know four or five six farms owned by one person what used to support 1012 families now supports you know one family so there's lots of farm jobs gone missing as well [Music] it's terrible than the country like New Zealand in its revert you know it like to that extinct all because of industry I believe that the good area companies and the freezing works and all those other industries that are you know cheese packing plants what are the ones that aren't are lucky they owe society the other ones that should be giving back it's like programs like ELLs we struggle for government funding there's responsibility of those conglomerates big companies that have one destroyed rural New Zealand now they're trying to destroy our chopper 97% of our boys are multi-or pacifica and getting dealt with by prejudice system that treats them unfairly you'll hear boys like talk about their own people as if there's something wrong with them and that's why they're in the system and yeah that's pretty heartbreaking you know that that they aren't aware that bad a disadvantage in the system but they think it's their own fault and how it to want you guys to think about how you once you've got a snake okay maybe he's gonna be happy excited all the boys are being beginning their days with your grand wife honest with Chrissy Jen comes in towards chest very results some boys have really short attention spans these three weeks is be late it feels like ages these free McSweeney oh wait ball bus stop Erie wild every fake law what do you smoke your dope level again oh here oh oh go back to school pretty stink to know what I've been doing to other people and how that be feeling it's just not the life to get in to I think I've figured that one out now people want to help me you know and I have myself as well to get out of this situation [Music] [Music] stocke tastes like victory it tastes like Nene it tastes like marshmallows taste um stuff sounds like bits it sounds like cows sounds like TK singing sounds peaceful sounds like more cows sounds annoying sounds like customs v8 snoring start his life changing before I came here I never thought about change in my life to be honest I was just thinking I was gonna go back to my same ways the license I've been here I've actually thought about it and having like a good group of people it's pretty awesome but one all of you boys to have a look around at how pectus rumors and there's the indication of the support that you guys have and it's not to be underestimated by you guys there's been times when I'm sure these guys felt like giving up for fun know that here you should be really proud of everything these guys have achieved along the way the rippers energy guys really well and they've representing themselves really really well I want them to leave and continue to learn to feel like they matter and the basis and that in turn transits are in matter into themselves from being bad and gentlemen to they're making good decisions for themselves [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so I think it's been about what two months fish since the boys graduated Lots has happened in those two months the whole range of things from amazing to not so great I think it was only a week after program finished calcine got into some trouble there's that disappointment when he up and then as soon as he was back I felt you know I had the same hook from the same optimism around a situation that I did like the day before he up I remember that fan I remember feeling really powerless like I couldn't make any choices about my own life and just you know it's like yeah and the tumble dryer just being thrown around and it's a real horrible feeling and super stressful and it makes you make bad decisions which I think heaps of boys heaps of their bad decisions will be made in that state he had to write an apology letter to victims of his crime self week he was telling the victims about what he's doing what he's about to do the last line said I hope I can have a normal life like any other teenager my age and yeah I think that's that smartphone [Music] [Music]

Channel: VICE

Views: 1,861,693

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, docs, interview, culture, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, film, short films, movies, crime, new zealand, zealandia, taranaki, youth justice, youth offending, aotearoa

Id: RLJLmjuSzXU

Length: 23min 19sec (1399 seconds)

Published: Tue May 01 2018