Todd Muller: Setting up our kids for life

Todd Muller, MP for Bay of Plenty. Photo/file

School: I remember mostly counting down the hours and minutes until lunchtime where I could kick a ball around with my friends and eat whatever my mum had packed for me to eat that day.

Probably like most people, I only began to appreciate having an education later on when I went to university and applied for my first job. However, I specifically remember that familiar question which exasperated many of my teachers: "What's the point of learning this?"

Kids raise a great question with that. How are we preparing them for their future?

Two interesting announcements came up this week.

The first was that over $155,000 will be given to Oropi School and two others in Tauranga to boost the number of classes in Japanese and Mandarin. If New Zealand is going to produce its own citizens capable of working and living in international environments, it starts right here at a young age getting immersed in language and culture.

The second was the opening of applications for the Youth Parliament for July 2016. Youth Parliament 2016 is a one-in-three year opportunity for young New Zealanders to share their views and the views of their peers with the country's decision-makers.

Statistically speaking young people between ages of 18-24 have the lowest voting turn out - about 63% enrolled to vote in last year's election, compared to 88% of 65-69 year olds. So we are asking any young person (16-18 years old) to email us at Todd.MullerMP@parliament.govt.nz an 800 word essay on:

What inspires young people to get involved with politics?

Encourage any young person you know to take this opportunity. These opportunities exist for our kids to help them learn more about the world, be it in learning a language or getting involved in parliament.

After all, there will always be time to go out afterwards to kick a ball around!