Editorial: Proud of our teens

Jack Potaka is a Rotorua teen to be proud of.

Our city's young people can get a bad rap at times - sometimes deservedly so, other times unfairly.

Whether it's youth "loitering" or, as we've reported recently, begging for money for legal highs - there is no doubt a section of Rotorua's teenage population is struggling.

But as parents, grandparents, teachers, sports coaches and kids themselves well know, teenagers are not all bad. In fact, most of them are pretty great.

In our job, as much as we have to report on the negatives sometimes, we also get to meet youngsters who are talented, hardworking and socially, morally and environmentally aware. And we love telling their stories.

Rotorua Boys' High student Jack Potaka is just one example - he took out a national RSA speech competition and won a trip to Gallipoli this month.

Jack's from Otaki but has family here and has boarded at Rotorua Boys' High since he was in Year 9. When he returned from Wellington victorious, his fellow boarders greeted him at the airport with a haka.

Elsewhere in our paper today we have a story of 24 Western Heights High School students who committed themselves to an eight week Cactus course, culminating in "the longest day" on Saturday.

By all accounts, the course is both mentally and physically challenging and has been credited for giving teens a new perspective on what they can achieve in life.

So yes, let's not ignore the very real problems of some of our young people. But at the same time, let's keep celebrating their successes.