Maybe so, but what was deemed appropriate 40 years ago would likely be classed as intimidation today.
I’d suggest the main reason for children failing at school, and this is across all ethnicities, is in so many homes education is not seen as important. Along with this many children show no respect, especially for authority, a lack of consideration, concentration and responsibility, and have no idea of routines.
Parents/caregivers are the child’s first teachers and the groundwork for a child to learn needs to be done at home.
Yes, classroom teachers are facing increasing difficulties and successive governments have contributed to this.
But, if parents stopped blaming schools for everything, and put in the groundwork at home, and were supportive of their child’s ongoing schooling, there may be a very different outcome.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Repeat offenders
I visited men in prison for 30 years, and many were gang members.
For the last 10 years I have chaired the Bond Trust, which has been reintegrating released prisoners, most of whom have a sentence of preventive detention. So far we have had 100% success by using internationally recognised best practice.
With this background I have been following the debate on military-style academies with some interest, and recall two statements from men I respect. One from the founding principal of a large secondary school who commented that young people feel secure if there are boundaries. The other from a former police detective who reminded his grandchildren that there are consequences for bad behaviour.
Instead of liberal handwringing and no sensible alternatives, the Government should be commended for doing something to solve the problem of repeat offending by young people. Three “failures” are actually better than the average of Corrections statistics.
No doubt the victims of offending also appreciate that action is being taken. I wonder, however, if we should be learning from Sir Kim Workman, who describes the effectiveness of marae justice in his autobiography.
For those who are Māori I believe this is likely to be culturally appropriate, very effective, and far less expensive. For other cultures a similar solution can be developed.
The other option is to wait for these men to realise that they have made bad choices, and we support them on release many years later.
John Newick, Swanson.
ACC inefficiency
ACC inefficiencies are not within the injuries themselves. The true problem is the hoops people jump through to get treatment.
An MRI requires specialist approval; that takes six weeks to see said specialist. The MRI happens six weeks later, then the surgeon fixes the problem, six weeks after that. Six weeks further on, rehabilitation starts. That’s 24 weeks on paid ACC just to get repaired before rehabilitation starts.
Either ACC doesn’t have enough surgeons on their books, or their red tape hampers efficiency in the delivery.
I know it is the latter, I haven’t been in the health game as long as I have to see it for what it is.
John Ford, Taradale.
Privatising healthcare
The assassination of the CEO of a health insurance company in the US should give us pause.
The anger of those who can afford health insurance is bad enough when those companies reject their claims, but imagine the even greater suffering of those millions who can’t even afford health insurance.
Donald Trump’s wealthy backers have cleverly harnessed this rage into various types of resentment towards minorities. Distraction has worked, while the rich quietly get richer as taxes are reduced.
We don’t want this playbook to be enacted here. While we are distracted by a spurious debate about the Treaty, harsh cuts to our public health system are gathering pace. People are starting to get the message: if they want healthcare they will have to pay for it.
This will exclude a large number of our population. Our public health system is in crisis and we must refuse to allow it to be undermined.
The coalition Government’s deliberate steps towards health privatisation in our country must be firmly rejected by voters at the next election.
Vivien Fergusson, Mount Eden.
Ferry fail
What an absolute letdown after a long 12-month wait to hear the announcement about the Cook Strait ferry solution.
Nicola Willis axed two perfectly rail-enabled adequate ferries at enormous cost, consequences and ruined reputation to NZ taxpayers, on a mere whim with no backup plan B, C or even D.
Winston Peters (the newly appointed Minister of Rail) did us no favours by announcing loudly and publicly that ferry solution day was December 11. Nothing, nada.
How can we trust these politicians to tell the truth? There is no certainty for government anymore. New Zealanders vote MPs into power to produce clear results.
So much in the past 12 months has been broken promises and divisive policies, with a Government far more focused on finance than the health and safety of its citizens.
Money matters, but people matter more.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Gender pay gap
A recent article makes clear the gender pay gap is due to women being given most of the responsibility for children.
It should be shared and if it were, there would be no pay gap. However, few men want to give up their careers and be the main carer for their children.
They do not want to leave a meeting because one of the children’s schools needs a child picked up. Only when men understand and fully accept their responsibilities to their children will the pay gap disappear.
Women never chose to be the main carers. It was a powerful societal expectation. However, we live in a different world now with many opportunities for women opening up, compared to a few decades ago, giving women a real choice.
We see the result. Women are choosing to have fewer or no children so they can pursue a career, just like the men.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
