From the age of 16, the number of children on the child protection register in Scotland plummets.

According to figures, of 2,681 children considered to be at risk, just 23 were aged 16 and over. We can reasonably assume the circumstances of more than 2,500 children weren't magically remedied on their 16th birthday. So what happened next for them?

Scotland's vision and commitment are commendable. The Children's Hearings system, Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the named person provision are designed to ensure all children in need of protection have appropriate support at the stage they need it, regardless of age. But there remains an underlying societal attitude that must be continually challenged.

Even within the 11-15 age bracket, we can see that the number of children deemed to be suffering significant harm, or at serious risk of harm, drops dramatically to just 361 (July 2013). So, at what point does concern for an abused or neglected child shift towards intolerance of a "problem" youth?

The complexity and range of risks teenagers face, including alienation from their families, school difficulties, peer pressure, accommodation problems, abuse by adults, unemployment, drug and alcohol misuse, emotional and mental health difficulties and domestic abuse, make them an incredibly vulnerable grouping. Unfortunately, what we so often see are just negative behaviours

Preoccupation with the problem in the here and now may not leave much room for reflection but, in truth, what we're seeing could be the unfolding of harmful effects on a child's emotional development: the result of abuse and neglect experienced at a much younger age.

The kind of abuse children experience as babies and toddlers is not always immediately obvious but we know it can have a devastating impact on a child's later wellbeing, so much so that specialist help and therapy may be needed. Children and young people are resilient but we cannot fall into a trap of believing that abusive situations do not impact enormously on young people and their behaviour. They do, always.

The Children's Hearings system recognises that children and young people who commit offences and children and young people who need care and protection are often one and the same. The system is built on the crucial understanding that children's behaviour should be seen as an expression of their needs. But do we, as a community, really understand the vulnerability of adolescents?

Research tells us that young people are crying out for adults to see behind their challenging behaviour, to pick up on the clues they're giving and to help them change their circumstances or deal with their experiences.

Rochdale is a prime example. Some of the victims or families had approached social services and police for help at several points in the past, and accusations had previously been made to police about some of the offenders.

Instead, some professionals, and probably lots of people in their communities and in their lives, made a tacit assumption that the victims were "consenting": that they were "promiscuous" or engaging in "risky behaviour" rather than victims of sexual exploitation. When children are targeted in adolescence, and we focus on their behaviour, we could fail to stop the most horrendous abuse.

When young people facing multiple adversities are being "bounced" around the system, in contact with a host of agencies, it is imperative that we find a way of ensuring that one person or agency takes overall responsibility for their welfare and has a comprehensive understanding of their wider situation and needs.

No matter how grown up they believe they are, or how grown up their circumstances have forced them to be, adolescents are not adults and need our care, concern, support and protection. They are somebody's child and they are Scotland's children, and they deserve the best that we can offer.