Carmen Hall: The challenges of living with a 'woke' child

Generation Z now known as the 'woke' kids have a lot to say on important issues. Photo / Getty Images

I have a Generation Z ''woke'' child living in my house and I am not sure how to handle it.

My once shy, quietly spoken 19-year-old has taken on some strong views of late and sparked quite a few arguments, which I have not won.

I did not realise she knew so much about Donald Trump, Jacinda Ardern and injustices around the world and at home. She never watches the news on TV but has garnered knowledge from social media, YouTube and by dissecting media clips on the internet.

When footage of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes emerged and his consequent death hit the headlines she was outraged.

The global Black Lives Matter campaigns that followed including protests in the Bay of Plenty also garnered her full support. I agreed but our opinions differed as a recent heated debate bought to light.

Before I go into details both of us are Māori. I have faced some instances of racism from an early age. There were only three Māori pupils at my primary school and we were the targets of racial slurs - but that is another story.

My teenager wanted to know what I thought about the Black Lives Matter movement and questioned my loyalty to the cause and questioned whether I had my own prejudices.

I was shocked but she got me thinking. I told her I did believe in Black Lives Matter but I was actually more concerned about other issues in our own backyard. These included Kiwis killing their children, domestic violence and murderers not being given enough jail time.

I said, in my view, I thought compared to some countries New Zealand treated its indigenous people a lot better than some other countries. But I acknowledged more work needed to be done.

She said that was fair enough but I could at times be ignorant of other cultures. That got me thinking again. Was I?

Yes, I am. Do I mean to be? No.

We subsequently came to the conclusion some people may be on the back foot due to historic prejudices. We are hopeful that is changing.

In true ''woke'' style my teenager had the last word on the virtues she is unwilling to compromise on.

''I just want to be kind and respectful to others, Mum.''

Sounds good to me.