'Fast cash' a ploy to trap youth

'Fast cash' a ploy to trap youth

The lure of fast money tempts young people to take up holiday jobs, which may be ploys by adults for them to do their dirty work, said Dr Carol Balhetchet, the Singapore Children's Society director of youth service.

This is because cash is the language that youth, who live in a very materialistic world, speak today, she said. They are starkly different from those growing up a decade or up to 50 years ago.

The observation comes from experience, said Dr Balhetchet, who has counselled children and their families since 1992.

"We live in a society that is getting more sophisticated with the latest technology," she said. "Kids are getting bombarded by advertisements everywhere. Their lifestyle has changed and every day they face the questions: How to be cool, how to be popular, how to get anything you want."

Youth these days are empowered to take on work merely to be able to afford the things that are advertised on TV, newspapers and even on the sides of public buses, she said.

Earlier this month, police arrested 85 students and four adults for distributing name cards and pamphlets advertising illegal moneylending services.

The police said in a statement: "This case highlights a worrying trend of loan-shark syndicates infiltrating schools and recruiting students to work for them."

The trend appears to be increasing, with 62 young people arrested for loan-shark and related harassment activities so far this year. A total of 156 young people aged 19 and below were arrested last year, more than twice the 60 arrested in 2008.

~News courtesy of Omy~