Summer break pushes idle teenagers towards crimes in UAE

Some also perform road stunts and many use tramadol and Lyrica pills to get high and have fun.

Summer vacation is a time when many teens drift into idleness. It is also a time when juvenile crimes, including thefts, eve-teasing, drug abuse and group clashes, become more prevalent and see a surge.

A large number of teenage boys are seen flocking around buildings and parking lots in neighbourhoods, smoking mudwakh (local tobacco that's inhaled through a small pipe) or smoking cigarettes or consuming alcohol. Some also perform road stunts and many use tramadol and Lyrica pills to get high and have fun.

Sana, a resident of Al Qasimiya, said that since the schools closed, she has been regularly encountering a group of teenage boys sitting outside Al Mahatta Park - despite the soaring mercury - smoking mudwakh and sharing alcohol cans among themselves. Sometimes, they fight and shove each other and use abusive language, she pointed out. The presence of such elements has also raised concerns among the local residents, and many of them prevent their daughters from going out to avoid harassment by the boys.

Akram Mustafa, a teenager, said that many boys like to gather around the parking lot opposite Al Soor area in the evening and it is a favourite hangout for them. They share their night activities, and some even reveal how they watched pornography all night while their parents slept. "I don't like to be with them because they behave aggressively, smoke mudwakh and other kinds of tobacco products. They are not interested in any sport activities," Mustafa pointed out.

Col Ibrahim Al Ajill, director of the criminal investigation department (CID) at the Sharjah Police, said that the CID, in coordination with residential patrols, has intensified a crackdown on those rowdy elements who indulge in illegal activities, mostly during the summer break.

"The police recently arrested a number of such minor boys and summoned their parents while making them sign an undertaking to stop their children from any misbehaviour that affects the society," he added.

Col Ajill pointed out that many teens also get involved in thefts from cars, and such crimes increase during summer vacation as the students have a lot of free time. He said that during the last two years, the police have arrested a large number of juveniles for a series of such thefts. "The teen boys smashed the car windows to steal valuables to sell them and get cash to buy cigarettes or drugs," he added. They also get involved in offences like driving a car without a licence or without its owner's permission.

A police official said that during summer vacations in the past years, the hospitals in the UAE received many cases of teenagers (aged 12-15 years), who were reeling under serious health conditions, including heart problems, low blood circulation, shivering, insomnia, anxiety, severe headache and convulsions. The medical examination showed that the disorders were caused because they had inhaled highly concentrated ethyl chloride which had pushed them to the brink of death.

Police investigation revealed that these adolescents managed to get ethyl chloride comfortably and quite cheap through drug gangs, which some of their friends had easy access to. The teenagers, who were interrogated by the police, believed that using ethyl chloride would bring them comfort, happiness, and de-stress them.

Col Ajill urged parents to monitor their children, prevent them from getting into bad company and enrol them in summer activities so that they can utilise their holidays. Parents must find out constructive activities for their children that would have a very positive impact on their behaviour, he said.