Lacoby Poulain: Let's help empower our youth

Recent events in Flaxmere highlight the need to support our youth even more so these days, not just in Flaxmere but across our bay and beyond.

For many of our youth the world is their oyster. The quarter-life crisis is becoming more prolific as youngsters wade through the options available to them, attempting to decipher which avenue to take. This is an exciting predicament to have, and perhaps one a generation or two ago didn't have. Nonetheless this is an area our youth can benefit from guided assistance in.

We tend to take for granted the notion that youth automatically know how to navigate the transition from school to beyond when, with the increasing array of avenues and the requirements necessary for each, this whole arena is more complex these days.

Take me for instance, despite a good environment I fumbled my way to uni. I only ended up there as a direct result of a friend taking me by the hand and literally showing me the way. She offered me a room and helped me fill out forms, choose courses, seek financial support and to pull it all together. We have schools, career services and many other organisations doing good work on these fronts but so long as there are still individuals falling through the cracks and floundering, more can be done.

Despite the rapidly increasing pace of the world and options available, many of our youth struggle to enter or even fathom these spaces as they lack simple tools, support, environments and therefore the confidence to propel them into these opportunities.

Take internet access as an example; an increasingly essential tool for connectivity to opportunities and requirements in today's world. Job applications and government forms are required to be submitted online, however 2012 census statistics still place Hawke's Bay among the lowest proportion of households without internet access. Our youth don't necessarily need sites such as Facebook but there is a wealth of other information available online that can empower and advance our youth, that they otherwise wouldn't be able to access without the internet.

Reducing costs in our libraries will remove many barriers to this service and when partnered with an organisation such as the Aotearoa Peoples Network, which partners with the National Library and central government to provide internet access in 140 libraries across NZ, the cost is miniscule.

Our youth are asking our libraries assist more with job search services such as help with CV creation and career guidance. The library staff could partner with other services and agencies to collaborate on this issue which I will continue to look into.

For the average newspaper reader, I imagine you will be of an echelon whereby issues contained in this article are not necessarily relevant to you: your sons and daughters have been well encouraged to attend university.

You will no doubt also have had internet access well established in your home in order to propel your children in this endeavour.

I admire and respect this greatly and picture the day our whole district can follow.