A recent break-in at a high school in Inuvik, N.W.T., has caused an estimated $50,000 in damages in an incident that residents are blaming on the town's youth.

Sometime Saturday night, vandals invaded Samuel Hearne Secondary School through an open back window and trashed the music room and shop room.

They poured paint on floors, walls and equipment, smashed musical instruments and destroyed computers. They also flooded the school's foyer with water and set off fire extinguishers.

Staff were continuing to clean up the building Thursday.

The RCMP estimated damages at the school to be around $50,000, but added the school wasn't the only building vandalized: the nearby Inuvik Works building had graffiti sprayed on it and a nearby vehicle was damaged, they said.

The Mounties are asking anyone with information on the crime to come forward.

While police have not found any suspects to date, many people in the town of 3,500 have been blaming youth whom they say roam the streets at night - despite a curfew bylaw that was passed in November 2007 and applies to youth under the age of 16.

'What's the matter with our children today?' mayor asks

But while residents call for tougher enforcement of the curfew, Mayor Derek Lindsay said there's only so much the town and police can do to stop kids from roaming the streets at night.

"It's got out of hand. I'm asking the parents: what's the matter with our children today?" Lindsay said Thursday.

"You know, we didn't get raised this way. There is a problem. It's not just the kids. It stems a lot from the home. And I wish the parents would really, you know, take a look around their home and ask, 'Where are my children at 2 o' clock in the morning?' "

The bylaw, which aims to reduce crime in the community, prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from being outside after 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.

The RCMP and the town's bylaw officer are responsible for enforcing the curfew. Parents whose children are caught outside while the curfew is in force are supposed to be fined up to $100 for repeat offences.

Inuvik RCMP say they have not issued any fines to parents under the bylaw. Staff Sgt. Bill Eubank said officers are stopping youth on the streets and telling them to go home, but he can't always be sure that strategy is working.

"Giving direction to the young people to get off the streets is the basic approach right now," Eubank said. "Whether they stay at home, or they're coming back out soon as the members leave, is hard to say."

Lindsay said the town's bylaw officer has fined parents, but he didn't know how many fines have been issued or if those fines were paid.

Town council will take a closer look at how well the curfew is working. As well, Lindsay said the town has just hired a second bylaw officer, who is expected to be on the job by August.

In the meantime, Lindsay said the town also needs to find more evening activities for kids during the long summer days.

"Through our rec department, we need to start developing something for these kids to do at night - hopefully tire them out by midnight and they'll go home to bed," he said.

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