Editorial: Kaitaia kids set example for rest of country

Worthy Film Crew.

It is heartening to hear that tagging has dropped in Northland.

Especially in Whangarei where a few years back we had an epidemic on our hands.

And on our fences, our roads, our buildings, our trees.

The low point for me was walking through Whangarei's Mair Park and someone had tagged a ponga frond with spray paint. So why has graffiti dropped?

It is clear we now get rid of it quickly, so there is less "hang time" for a vandal's tag.

Less gratification in other words, and good work by our district council.

Someone out there is also doing some great work with youth, to give them pride in themselves, their families, their towns.

Because proud individuals who know who they are, where they are from, and respect those that have gone or come before them, they don't tag.

Giving young people the opportunity to do their own thing, identify challenges and solve them, is another big part of it. There is a word for it - empowerment.

It's one of those words we thrash, sometimes it loses its meaning.

But in Kaitaia, man, there are some empowered young people.

I reckon graffiti and tagging in Kaitaia must have dropped in the past year, the "do it" positivity of the teens in this movie must rub off on their whole town.

The video was shot by the Worthy Film Crew, and it has won a 2016 Youth Group Award.

The real winners are the kids in the 5-minute film - a group of Kaitaia teenagers doing stuff in their town, like a breakfast club, or using theatre to tell powerful messages, or public art to declare "hey, this is our space and we are proud of it".

Google "Worthy Film Crew" and "Youth Pride, Youth Passion and Youth Change" to watch the video. I don't live there and I was proud of these kids, and proud of Northland.

It's extraordinary stuff that will change many people's views of teenagers, and Kaitaia, for that matter. Watch the video - it's only 5 minutes, but it says a lot about Kaitaia kids in that short space of time.