Editorial: Kids aren't all that bad after all ...

WOW entrants Emily Johnson, Erin Tomlinson and Evie Johnson are excited that their garments will appear in World of Wearable Art.

There's been much written and said about the youth of today. Some say they are spoilt brats who wouldn't know what a hard day's work was if it hit them in the face.

Perhaps there are some young people out there like that but from what I have seen in the past couple of days the opposite is true.

Point in case - the three young women, who all went to Havelock North High School, featured in yesterday's paper. The girls all have entries in the Wellington World of Wearable Arts (WOW) and they have worked extremely hard to get there.

Nothing was handed to them on a plate, their success is all down to hard work.

Also in yesterday's Hawke's Bay Today, we had a photograph and review of the young musician of the year. The winner, guitarist Luke van Duuren beat five other talented musicians to take the title.

All six young people deserve a huge pat on the back. No one handed them their talent, they have no doubt practised for hours, day after day for years to be good enough to even make the finalists.

And in today's paper we have a group of talented young people taking part in Nga Manu Korero. That is just two examples of some inspiring stories I've seen in the past few weeks.

Often too much time is given talking about the things youth do wrong instead of focussing on the ones who are doing well.

A bit like the disruptive kid in the classroom who takes all the teachers time or the bully who is alway in the limelight. Yes these troubled children need help, but let's make sure we don't neglect to encourage and praise the children who sit back and quietly get on with it.