Our kids should be choosing life

FEELING disconnected from Pakeha culture heightened the risk of suicide among young Maori, an international study found.  Reported the SundayNews

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The article is written in such an emotive way as to enflame the debate over Maori youth.
Perhaps the figures indicating that Maori youth suicide is effectively double what it should be, representing 20% casualties. However, there was no reference to the remaining 80% and how they breakdown in terms of ethnicity.

Disappointingly, there is only quoted reference to the study carried out by Terryann Clark. I for one would have liked to have gone and read some of the source material.

I’m not saying Maori youth suicide is not a tragedy. Far from it. Youth suicide is tragic period. I mourn the loss of a single life from such a totally preventable manner.

There is clearly a disconnect between many youth and their parents. Without the feeling of unconditional love that we can only receive from our parents then life can be brutal. Friends are friends, but they still can let us down. Teachers play their role as do social workers and pastoral care workers, yet still it is the closeness of family that really counts.

Kids need to feel wanted and needed. Even during times when they themselves refuse to acknowledge that need. Through the good and the bad family needs to be there.

Today’s families look very different to those a few years back. But regardless of what a kids family is made up of they need that safe place to be alone. To be with those who will love them regardless. Provided that ‘home’ is a supportive place then we all can bear the trials of the wild-world outside.

Let us all love, support and care for those kids in our care.

Useful link:
Teenage suicides- OECD report (87.6k, pdf) Last updated 20/12/2010


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Questions arising about the teenage drink problem

Coroner Gordon Matenga said no one person is at fault for the death of the 16 year old who died as a result of alcohol poisoning following a party in Auckland's Grey Lynn on May 8 last year.

• At what age should people be allowed to drink? 
• How much legislation should there be? 
• How much is it down to parental engagement ? 
• How much responsibility should be placed on the the individual and how much upon their peers?

There must be a thousand factors impacting upon the events surrounding the teenagers death. Some immediate and some from long ago.Where to from here?

Again this is a time for us all, from all sectors of society, to take a long hard look at our responsibilities.
Law makers, law enforcers, teachers, parents, social workers, off-licence owners, bars and puts and club owners, friends and relations.
We should all play our part.

Further reading:
Why Do Adolescents Drink, What Are the Risks, and How Can Underage Drinking Be Prevented?
Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand
ACT - Raising Age Limit Won't Solve Teen Drinking (opinion piece)
DRINKING IN NEW ZEALAND National Surveys Comparison 1995 & 2000




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5 places to start when trying to tackle the drug problem in schools

A former drug enforcement officer says the P epidemic was brought on by the New Zealand police force's "she'll be right" mentality.

Its all well and good wringing our hands and saying ‘if only..’ but the reality is that there is a drug problem in this country and there is no point in saying that it is someone else fault or someone else’s responsibility.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

    Edmund Burke

So here are five places for us to look to begin dealing positively in our sphere of influence:

• Sign up for DARE to Support your Kids. This programme is designed to help you, as parents, support your Kids.  Check with your local DARE Society for when the next programme is in your area.
• FADE’s Parents and Caregivers. This online community has been developed to support you help answer some of the questions you have related to alcohol and drug education.
• MethCon Group can provide presentations to community and family groups which give a broad overview of the problem of methamphetamine as it relates to individuals, wider society and how as communities working together we can make a difference.
• The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free.
• Drug Education.Net  This site was created to provide drug information for both legal and illegal drugs. Each drug page has a drug description, photo, and side effects.

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