Paul Little: Dancing a final fling of youth

Pupils and teachers alike dread the boredom of prizegiving. Photo / Thinkstock

Of all the events in the school year none is anticipated with less enthusiasm than the annual prizegiving. Pupils and teachers alike dread this fiesta of boredom.

The highlight is usually a speech by the principal, lasting several days and giving a captive audience the benefits of his or her opinions on everything from what is wrong with the education system to the pernicious influence of social media and not eating five-plus-a-day.

In more extreme versions, a former pupil of mediocre achievements is wheeled out to expound on how applying himself and paying attention set him on the road to being the successful owner of several dry-cleaning franchises.

Just occasionally, however, something will happen that lifts the dire experience out of the ordinary. For me this year, to my own amazement, it was the dance performance. I hadn't been expecting the dance performance. In fact, if you had asked me beforehand how the prizegiving could be made less endurable than it was already going to be, I probably would have said: "Only if there was a dance performance."

Adolescence and gracefulness are not concepts that sit comfortably together. But as the 10 young people proceeded to make their elegant way through a simple but lovely piece of choreography all I could see was the hope and promise in what they were doing.

Dance is one of the least useful activities we can engage in, but it is also one of the loveliest. The young people on stage were totally involved in and fulfilled by what they were doing.

In educational terms it wasn't going to "lead to" anything, the normal criterion used to justify any course taken at school. It was an end in itself.

And those boys and girls could do it only because this was the last time in their lives that they would have no responsibility.

I realised that the best thing about being a teenager is that you have no idea what is about to happen to you. Life is hard and you have to get on with it. Secondary school is the last time you will be able to do something for the sheer pleasure of it rather than because it will "get you somewhere". For that reason alone it is to be treasured.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE SMALL PLAYERS

Nick Smith's portfolios include the environment and climate change issues. Judging by this week's efforts, he's Minister Against the Environment and Minister Responsible for Promoting Climate Change.

Next year, he is to introduce legislation that will back-pedal our commitment to the Emissions Trading Scheme. If he goes far enough, pedalling will end up being our sole means of locomotion. Once again, we are making a saving in the short term for which we will pay a high price in the long term.

The Government has moved quickly on environment issues since the election and this announcement came hard on the heels of a "reorganisation" that will disembowel the Department of Conservation.

The minister used the fact that Canada was departing from the Kyoto Protocol to justify the move. I hadn't realised we had adopted the last refuge of plaid as a national role model but I'm prepared to accept that where Canada goes we definitely should toddle along behind. Let's eat more elk, wear those hats with the funny flaps that cover our ears and provide subsidised ice skates for the under-fives.

Many countries are indeed reducing their commitment to the protocol because of the economic implications described by Smith.

Among the reasons for taking this step he omitted to mention is that it will make it easier for businesses owned in other countries to continue having their way with our environment as they rack up profits to send home.

We are, says Smith cringingly, a "small bit-player".

We were a small bit-player on nuclear issues when we found ourselves banning nuclear-powered vessels.

That small bit of playing turned out to be our most significant contribution to international affairs in the past half-century.

It's amazing what bit-players can do when they decide to set an example. Sometimes they can steal the show.

ZAC'S GETTING THE BILL

Professional rugby player Zac Guildford is a young man with health problems he unfortunately has to deal with in public - largely because he acts them out in public.

He is to have counselling and treatment for alcohol-related problems at his own expense. This is a heartening development.

Only older readers will be able to recall the last time an All Black paid for anything himself.