Naomi Long 'trying to face two ways at once' over criminalisation of children given past remarks about playground fights
Plans by Naomi Long to raise the age at which people can be criminalised appear to contrast with previous remarks she made about involving the police in playground fights.
The TUV has said that the stance she is taking over the two issues seems "untenable".
Currently Mrs Long, the justice minister, is considering raising the age at which a child can be prosecuted from 10 to perhaps as high as 14.
Doing so has long been a cause dear to many liberals' hearts, who are concerned about the consequences of burdening young schoolkids with criminal records.
However, back in 2021 Mrs Long appeared to signal she was happy for the criminal justice system to deal with schoolyard altercations.
She had been asked about LGBTQIA+ bullying during a panel discussion by John O’Doherty, the then-leader of the Rainbow Project lobby group.
Mr O’Doherty had said: “If I walk out on the street and I punch someone in the face it’s a crime, and I’ll likely face prosecution for that.
“Someone punches someone in the face in school, it’s either ‘bullying’ or it’s ‘kids-being-kids’.
“How do we address this idea that kids within schools, particularly LGBTQI+ kids, can experience violence on a daily basis and it not be recognised as a crime?”
Mrs Long replied to him, saying: “If somebody punches somebody in the face irrespective of where it takes place, it is a crime.
“How schools choose to handle that, how they engage with the parents, and how they then engage with the police and others around that obviously is something they need to look at really carefully.
“But if there’s a serious assault in a school or outside of a school, it is still a crime.
“We’ve seen that where for example, where a pupil has assaulted a teacher.
“We’ve seen it where a teacher has assaulted a pupil.
“And it should be no different where it’s pupils assaulting other pupils. That is clear.”
Asked by the News Letter to clarify her position on calling the police into schools, the Alliance Party said: “Naomi Long stated clearly how such incidents are addressed with the pupils, parents and, where appropriate, the police, is a matter for the school, parents and pupils."
Reflecting on her current bid to exempt more children from prosecution, Jim Allister of the TUV said that "clearly she is in the untenable position of trying to face two ways at the same time".
However, his own position is that it is a bad idea to raise the age.
"The answer to the folly of raising the criminal responsibility to 14 is James Bulger!" he said.
"On February 12, 1993, in Merseyside, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born August 23, 1982) and Jon Venables (born August 13, 1982), abducted, tortured, and murdered the two-year-old boy.
"If Mrs Long is saying theirs should not be a crime for which they are to be held liable, then, I, and believe the greater number of people, disagree."
LGBTQQIA+ lobbyists have often argued for a more formal approach toward acts of bullying in schools.
In an article titled 'An assault by any other name', the Rainbow Project's website suggests physical assault among young peers is "more than criminal – it is torture".
"Why do we minimise the experiences of children and young people who are victims of crime?" it asks.
"The vast majority of people in our society rightly believe that it is wrong for a parent to smack a child – but we give little consideration to levels of violence experienced by young people from their peers.
"Indeed, living in constant fear of violence is more than criminal – it is torture – it is an abuse of a person’s human rights."
It goes on to demand a standardised, "uniform" response to acts of bullying: "Despite lobbying by The Rainbow Project to the contrary, [the current] legislation only requires that schools have a policy to respond to bullying – not what that policy should include."
The News Letter has put the claim Mrs Long is trying to face “two ways” to the Alliance Party. It in turn passed the query to the Department of Justice, and a response is awaited.