Peter Jackson, editor, The Northland Age
What's in it for me?
WHY IS IT that kids these days need an added incentive before they will do something to improve their future prospects? Their parents and grandparents didn't need them, but now, it seems, young people won't do anything on their own behalf unless there is something extra in it for them.
Truth be told, that doesn't apply to a lot of kids. They are as keen as any previous generation to gain their independence and start making their way in the world. It is a sad fact that some reach their late teens with none of the ambition that should fuel the transition from youth to adulthood, thanks no doubt to parenting that doesn't even make second rate, but it's hard to believe that that applies to the great majority.
So why do we now have the Minister of Education extolling the virtues of a plan to offer kids NCEA credits for getting their driver's licence? There is no argument with her or anyone else who says kids who can drive stand a much better chance - seven times better, apparently - of finding paid employment when they leave school than those who can't, which begs the question, who needs the added incentive?
Surely any teenager who has plans beyond lining up for a benefit understands the value of a driver's licence. And even if they haven't made that connection, surely they have a burning ambition to add a driver's licence to the list of achievements that will cumulatively allow them to spread their wings and fly away from the homes where they were raised.
Independence has always been the great lure for young people, whether or not they want to escape their parents' clutches, even if statistics tell us that 'children' are living with their parents much longer these days than their parents and grandparents did.
That no doubt has something to do with bludging off their parents in an age when finding a home of their own can be prohibitively expensive, not to mention that some mums are apparently happy to continue treating their offspring like children long past the stage when they really should be fending for themselves. But who wants to rely on their parents for a ride to work?
Offering NCEA credits for obtaining a licence actually goes beyond mildly ridiculous to seriously foolish, in that it reinforces the message kids receive these days that they don't need ambition or initiative. Everything will be laid on for them, until they leave school that is, enter the workforce and find that the real world doesn't quite function that way. Far from enhancing their employment prospects, kids who need this sort of bonus might well find it more difficult to interest an employer than those who haven't entirely lost their get up and go, and have been taught by their parents that their adult world will be what they make it.
We saw an example of the negative effect this thinking has earlier this year, when the government abandoned its $1000 kickstart for new Kiwisavers. All hell broke loose in some misguided quarters, with predictions that no one would want to sign up if they weren't going to get a grand from their taxpaying neighbours. The critics couldn't see the remaining cash incentives, the annual tax rebate of $521 and the employer's contributions, or the fact that those who begin saving for their retirement at an early age will be infinitely better off later in life than those who don't.
There's probably no point in even discussing the fact that much of this country's financial frailty is built on the reality that we don't save enough.
This 'What's in it for me?' attitude might well also be responsible for the demise of the volunteering spirit that was once such a fundamental part of the New Zealand way of life. Sure, there are plenty of young people who give of their time and energy to the benefit of others, but the attitude that nothing is worth doing without some tangible reward is increasingly common, and not only amongst the current younger generation. We have been breeding people who can't see the value of their unpaid exertions to their community as a whole for some time, and this loopy NCEA credit idea is just another small but significant extension of that.
Judging by the cars parked outside Kaitaia College every school day there are plenty of kids who have acquired their licences without the inducement of easy NCEA credits, but if there really is a need to nudge them towards independence in this way, why stop there? Why not offer credits for other achievements that will give them an edge when it comes to finding a job? Like learning to dress themselves, tie their shoe laces, to get out of bed before morning tea time, punctuality, reliability, showing some enthusiasm? If we take this to its natural conclusion we might see kids graduating from secondary school without learning anything academic at all.
Any youngster with an ounce of self-respect should be offended by this patronising offer. They should be saying that they don't need to be spoon-fed, that they haven't entirely lost the gumption that their parents and grandparents displayed. If they can't do that then this employer, for one, is unlikely to be interested in them.
Too much effort goes into shielding kids from the facts of adult life these days, life where there are winners and losers, where nothing is achieved without effort, where those who do not have the wherewithal to make some valued contribution are not required, thank you very much. The sooner those lessons are learned the better, and delaying them for as long as possible does no one any favours.
The bottom line is that this is another government policy aimed at the lowest common denominator. Some kids are too lazy and uninspired to shift for themselves, so all kids will be offered an inducement to do so. How much more sensible would it be to address the attitudes of the minority than to hand out freebies to everyone? What does that teach the kids who have not lost their get up and go? What does that teach kids who will hopefully grow to become givers rather than takers? Why should they bother?
And to extrapolate just a little, why can't Kaitaia have a Christmas parade? Once again a minority have punished the majority, albeit only in Kaitaia.
Every town and village in the Far North seems to have had a Christmas parade over the last week or two, but not Kaitaia. Too dangerous, apparently.
First kids were dicing with death in their determination to scoop up every last sweet, and then bigger kids, who should have known better, started running amok through the crowd, endangering not only themselves by anyone who got in their way. Solution - knock the parade on the head and stage a static 'carnival' instead.
The erstwhile organisers of Kaitaia's parade also say it is too expensive. Apparently the bill runs to something like $25,000.
Hard to see how. The council apparently charges $1000 to close the main street, but where does the other $24k go? And how come Kaikohe, Okaihau and Kaeo can do it?
No offence to the good people who organised Kaitaia's 'carnival,' but it wasn't worthy of the name. Kaitaia should have a parade, and if some kids see that as an invitation to run riot they should be disabused.
Majority rules, OK!
News snippets from the Far North.