Helping Youth Connect

Last Updated (Monday, 08 March 2010 08:41) Written by Morgan Johnston Friday, 05 March 2010 13:14

Press Releases

6 December 2009    


HELPING YOUTH CONNECT

by Stephen Bell *


Life is not good for many young people in New Zealand.  Compared to those in other age groups, they are disproportionately prone to injuries and mental illness. And, when comparison is made with their contemporaries in other developed countries, they’re more susceptible to unintended pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases and, most worrying of all, suicide.

Even before the onset of the recession, the young were also well-represented amongst the nation’s jobless. In today’s tough economic conditions, there’s a possibility that youth unemployment will again rocket to 20 percent, as it did after the 1987 stock market crash.  If that happens, tens of thousands of young men and women may well feel deprived of all sense of purpose and of control over their lives.

The welfare of our young people is the business of all New Zealanders, even those who are no longer themselves young or who don’t have kids of their own.   We will never have a prosperous, high-achieving and humane society if the talents of a high percentage of our youth don’t get the chance to emerge and develop.  Nor can we hope for peaceful and safe communities if youth crime continues to flourish, as it inevitably does when a large cohort of young people remains marginalised.

So what should we do about it?  The first thing is, obviously, to reduce youth unemployment as rapidly as we can and, certainly, to prevent it getting much worse. The second is to acknowledge the tremendous work of our schools in preparing the majority of young people for useful, active and purposeful lives and to support them in their role.  And a third is to recognise that solutions which fit most people, don’t necessarily fit everyone, that it’s unreasonable to expect schools to be successful in 100 percent of cases and that other, community-based solutions may have a role to play.

Every young person in New Zealand is subjected to a unique mix of circumstances that impact on how they are going to fare within the education system and in later life. A loving, supportive home typically provides a better starting point than one in which violence and abuse are common.  But there’s a huge range of other social, economic, cultural, health and attitudinal factors that can influence whether or not an individual benefits from our school system and then finds their way on a pathway to a satisfying life.

Instead of trying to place all our square pegs into round holes, we might benefit if we put at least some resources into shaping holes that are suitably square? An example of this approach is Youthline’s own Alternative Education School, which looks after 12 students who were definitely not succeeding prior to being with us and who would probably have ended up as the flotsam and jetsam of our society.

The students receive academic teaching from a qualified teacher but also develop relationship skills and self esteem, through programmes run by youth workers. In essence, they find themselves no longer marginalised but part of a cohesive community.  For many of them, this is a new experience and a spur to achievement.

Our Alternative Education School is part of a consortium of six similar bodies in the Auckland area and there are other similar initiatives across New Zealand.  It’s a small start in a potentially fruitful direction but, whether or not it develops further, will depend on dollars and cents. Such government funding as we’ve received has been on a very small scale and hasn’t increased in ten years.

Dealing with the needs of those who are failing to cope with the school system is, however, only one part of the equation.  Of at least comparable importance is ensuring that young people are able to stay engaged in a positive way outside the classroom and once their school days are over.

Obviously, careers advice and employment opportunities are essential parts of the mix when it comes to helping young people towards a hopeful future. But we also need to build gateways through which greater numbers can access education and training courses.

Gateways are also needed to a wide range of voluntary and recreational activities, which allow youth to explore and develop their talents and to interact with and be of service to others. Information, accessibility and youth-friendliness are all essential to this approach, as is collaboration between schools, clubs and the agencies focusing on youth issues.    

If young people fail to connect with the world around them in positive ways, there’s a strong chance they will relate to it in a wholly negative manner, through gang membership, crime or the abuse of drugs and alcohol.  They can then become an ongoing charge on the justice system, the police, the health system or social services.  So it makes good sense to invest some time and money into helping them make good choices that will carry them forward.  They are, after all, our country’s future.  

* Stephen Bell is the National Spokesperson for Youthline, which helps young people to reach their potential and provides them with a wide range of support and leadership opportunities.