Letters to the editor: Boredom is the enemy of a happy home

DIY is a way to keep the boredom at bay. Photo / File

We hear abuse of women and children has greatly increased in the world and in particular in New Zealand.

These are stressful times with Covid-19 - exacerbated by the boredom and fear and the prospect of many people losing their jobs and income especially once government support ends. Boredom and lack of activities is the enemy of a happy home. This encourages drinking alcohol or taking drugs, which causes this abuse to spiral.

This has vicious, long-term negative effects on thousands of families.

The answer is healthy DIY activities - repairs, painting, decorating, building decks, single garages, servicing of repairing the cars and vehicles - at home. These are critical to keeping fathers and teenagers focused on doing something productive.

Hardware stores forced to close in lockdowns need to be kept open. Fewer people shop at hardware stores than supermarkets. This means they are easier to sanitise.

Covid-19 is not over by a long shot and the horrific damage of family violence will have enormous ramifications for years to come. The Government needs to rethink this ruling of only the main supermarkets open.

We need to give people something to do other than watching TV and drinking alcohol.

(Abridged)

M Kenyon-Slade
Tauranga

Stay where you are

I have read about New Zealand's 79,400 net migration gain. We should instantly close our border to all as it would appear our new cases of Covid-19 are from imports.

Kiwis have gone overseas to work and better themselves and forgotten about NZ because they are doing better and haven't paid into our tax system.

Now that the boot is on the other foot they want come back. Sorry, no.

Our rights in New Zealand outweigh theirs. Why should we, as a country, have made sacrifices that have paid dividends until the returnees have come back with Covid-19 to use the welfare system here.

Stay where you were and where you paid your taxes and until now thought you were better off overseas. Don't burden NZ with your wants. Go to the government where you paid tax to look after you.

Kiwis living overseas had the chance to come home earlier. That door now needs to be welded shut.

Graham Holloway
Tauranga

Relying too much on technology

Never keep all your eggs in one basket.

This was drummed into us countless times while growing up - the current spate of cyber attacks on the NZX illustrates exactly why that makes good sense.

These days we have come to rely on modern technology far too much.

All-electric houses - it takes only a power cut to stop you cold. As a youngster on the farm, we had electric, paraffin lamps and candles as backup and the heat came from a wood and coal agar cooker.

Today we have almost given up posting letters, even the landline telephone gets little use, relying, as we do on mobile phones and computers, and when anything goes wrong with the satellite the whole country grinds to a halt.

There is a lesson to be learned here.

Jim Adams
Rotorua

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