With the spike in youth crime in the spotlight, National Party leader Christopher Luxon says we need to tackle our truancy 'crisis'.
But one youth worker said there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to youth crime.
He said the young people involved often suffer from serious trauma and that's what we need to better support.
An Icebreaker Outlet store near Auckland Airport was the target of yet another overnight ram raid.
Work is already underway to secure the shop after a group of youths drove a stolen car through the front doors and stole clothing before they fled in another car.
The police said the getaway car was found crashed into the grounds of a school on Bader Drive. One offender allegedly broke a leg and police are still looking for four others.
This is just the latest ram raid in a string of youth crimes taking place across the country.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon said the impacts of that have been heartbreaking on the businesses affected.
"We've got to keep victims in mind but what we have is a Government that's soft on crime and we've got to be able to have personal responsibility and accountability and teach that to our kids," Luxon said.
That comes amid growing calls for tougher consequences for both children and their parents. But youth worker Aaron Hendry said that's not the answer.
"In situations like that we're all looking for someone to blame," Hendry said.
"There's been some really unhelpful conversations about our young people and our children this week, comparisons to our kids as if they're viruses or a plague, but actually these are children who are hurting, who are suffering."
Oranga Tamariki said youth crime as a whole has fallen 60 per cent in the past 10 years.
But Hendry said many of those who are committing crimes are facing incredibly complex issues.
"We see a lot of young people who have fetal alcohol syndrome and other disabilities of similar measure and there is just not the support."
He wants to see more investment in community services - those at the coalface working with these young people.
Meanwhile, Luxon said there's a link between youth crime and what he calls our growing truancy crisis.
Almost 40 percent of students aren't attending school regularly.
"That's been the most sobering set of stats I've encountered," Luxon said.
The Government is set to announce a package to tackle those truancy statistics.
But in order to get kids into the classroom, fixing poverty needs to be the priority.
"If you've got a kid who's hungry, who's suffering, who's in pain then going to learn 2 + 2 isn't what they're going to be thinking about," Hendry said.
And he said everyone's got a part to play, otherwise nothing will change.
