Young People Leading The Way

Ladies and gentleman, thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. I gather that you have a packed weekend of soul searching and thinking, in order to meet your mission to make Scouting New Zealand's leading and preferred youth movement. Quite an ambitious mission!

Firstly, I realise that just about all of you give your time to Scouting voluntarily. A number of you work many hours a week in your Scouting Activities. As Minister of Youth Affairs, I thank you for your dedication and devotion to young people and youth work.

My mission is to ensure that our young people grow up in a safe, healthy and enterprising New Zealand. I believe that organisations such as Scouting contribute greatly to achieving that. You make a difference in the lives of many young people.

The role of Minister of Youth Affairs is an extremely busy one. Just this week I hosted the 2nd Youth Parliament. 120 young people descended on Parliament and took the seats of real MPs for 2 days. They took part in Select Committees, questioned Ministers, held a general debate and also debated a specific mock Bill.

The Bill that was debated, if introduced by the real Parliament, would ensure parity between the unemployment benefit and tertiary student allowances. The Bill succeeded, by 58 votes to 50.

Everyone involved had a great time, and debate in the house was electric. But it was electric in a different way from the real house. The young people were debating their issues, and they were debating them without stooping to the personal attacks that characterise normal proceedings in Parliament. We heard some very intelligent, constructive and passionate speeches. It was an awesome experience for the young people involved, and for me.

I think the funniest part of the Youth Parliament was watching some of the Ministers squirm at the questions that were fired at them, and hearing Paul East claim that it was harder than the real thing!

Many people thought that the Youth Parliament would just be a tokenistic effort and a clamber for publicity. They couldn't be further from the truth.

The first Youth Parliament debated the drinking age, with real diversity of opinion expressed. They voted to lower the legal drinking age to 18. That debate informed the Ministry of Youth Affair's submission to the Liquor Advisory Committee, and now we have the recommendation to lower the drinking age to 18. We are likely to see that enacted into law within a year. It was youth participation in action.

The issues canvassed in the 1997 Youth Parliament were varied. As well as student allowances, the Youth MPs spoke on youth suicide, relationship programmes, self esteem, the value of young people, youth participation, employment, role models and perhaps not surprisingly, the behaviour of Parliamentarians.

The Youth MPs said that generally young people didn't care about politics and what happened in Parliament. They were turned off by the constant bickering, slanging and sleaze. They wanted nothing to do with the games that politicians played - they wanted to make a difference.

One of the things that has struck me since being in Parliament is that some of the most experienced MPs are among the worst behaved. They should be setting a good example. Instead, it takes a bunch of Youth MPs to drive the message home and I hope that all 120 of the real MPs firmly received the message.

I have written to all MPs and Ministers about this issue, and to let them know that I'm committed to working with them in the interests of young people. I will do just that. We don't work constructively while engaging in pointless knock abouts with other MPs, or while trying to defend ourselves from allegations that have no truth to them.

As well as my responsibilities for Youth Affairs, I am the Associate Minister for the Environment. Along with looking at solid waste management and organochlorines I am responsible for managing Environmental Education. This is one area where organisations like yours do a lot of positive work.

From my understanding, Scouting is still focused on outdoor pursuits. I believe that this type of work provides invaluable experiences for young people. Not only is it an excellent developmental model, but it increases one's awareness of the environment and our impact on it.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs administers the grants for the Conservation Corps. They are a series of projects around the country designed to help unemployed youngsters. The participants carry out work very similar to that of Scouting New Zealand, but in a full time programme, and normally for a period of 12 to 13 weeks.

The young people work in teams on conservation projects, ranging from path building and fence making to native plant replacement and pollution management.

They learn about themselves, their limits, their strengths and weaknesses, about opportunities, team work, leadership, confidence, communication and support.

They equip themselves with knowledge, life skills, work experience and a positive outlook on life. Knowing about the environment helps a person understand how they fit into the wider scheme. It can create a sense of belonging. For so many young people, that's all they need - a sense of belonging.

This programme works. Up to 80% of Conservation Corps participants enter employment or education within 6 months of completing their course.

I believe that organistions like Scouting, which are fulfilling a need not too dissimilar to that of the Conservation Corps, are doing great work. Perhaps if Scouting was more widespread we wouldn't need to organise programmes such as Conservation Corps? I'm sure the Treasurer would like to hear that!

Over the next couple of years I plan to look at a series of possible initiatives which focus on the developmental needs of young people. They do have specific needs, and I am of the belief that we need programmes tailored specifically to their needs.

I am particularly keen that some work should go into investigating relationships, communication, self esteem and male role model programmes. Just recently I read an article about New Zealand male stereotypes restricting boys from learning interpersonal skills and how to maintain relationships.

Young males seem, to me, to be in crisis. Whether it is young male suicide, drunken riots, increasing use of drugs, or the incidence of violence and crime.

This is not acceptable. I believe that many of our problems in our youth stem from a sense of dislocation, a lack of strong relationships and our ability to communicate with each other.

The media portrayal of young people is disappointing. It serves to reinforce negative images, and very predictably ignores positive achievements. Many young people feel alienated from the rest of society and their sense of self worth isn't always strong.

We need to balance that image and recognise that most do grow up in a safe, secure environment, are well educated and live contented and constructive lives.

It's worth noting though, that the complex and sometimes contradictory beliefs that many of us hold are a reflection of the speed at which the world is changing. Our environment is changing as technological development gains momentum. And, either those developments occur as a result of our changing values and expectations; or our values and expectations change as a result of the technological and scientific developments. This could be one of those "chicken and egg" questions.

But are we letting those developments dictate our values and expectations?

That's something for us to think about as we provide leadership and guidance to young people.

As we go about our work we should remember that it is vital to ensure young people are equipped with the appropriate skills, ready to tackle the future in front of them. It's about much more than what is provided in the formal education structure, it is about ensuring that every young person is empowered to the best of their abilities.

I'd like to think that I am fairly "switched on" to the needs, desires and aspirations of young people. And one thing I'm very aware of is the need to avoid putting all young people into one single group. There are dangers inherent in labelling us as one clear social group, and attaching a stereo-typical image.

Young people are too diverse for that. Let me paint a picture.

Some young people feel alienated from the rest of society and their sense of self worth isn't always strong. Some of that has to do with the biological processes of growing up, but it can also be attributed to a number of other factors. Access to information, access to trustworthy confidants, a lack of pride in one's culture, for example.

Add to that the fact that our parents are probably working harder and longer hours than ever before, the world is increasingly competitive and we don't quite match those, "beautiful people" we see on TV and in films.

The result? A crisis of perception. Where do we fit in this world? Are we worthwhile? And who cares anyway?

In contrast, there are some young people who appear overly confident. They're up with play, thriving at school or in work and having a blast of a time socially.

Those people still have the occasional moment of self-doubt but on the whole, they're ok.

So, young people can fit anywhere in that spectrum. They might have body piercings, op shop clothes, designer labels, dreadlocks or a shaved head. Who knows? They are enormously diverse.

So let's accept them for who they are, believe in them and encourage them to grow into the adults they want to be.

You may well ask, if we're doing this, then how do we attract them into this organisation? But that, in my mind, is not the way to look at it.

Quite a few organisations have visited me recently saying they want to make their organisation more attractive to young people, and increase their "market share".

My advice to anyone thinking along these lines is that if you want young people to be in your organisation, then you need to consult with them. How would they change things? What is cool to them? And what decisions would they make about the organisation?

Admittedly, you can't achieve this overnight. If you were to transfer all power to your members tomorrow, I think you'd find that they'd be overwhelmed and leave.

To empower someone, you need to pass on more than just the title and constitutional power. You need to impart knowledge, information, skills, values and attitudes.

That is what youth work is all about. Letting young people do it for themselves, and helping them turn their own ideas into action.

This is about more than a token effort at participation. This is past the point of showing that you encourage youth to participate just to impress funders, young people or other youth organisations. This is about making your organisation a success - through your strongest asset - young people.

I am currently working to ensure that young people participate more in our society, and that services for young people are coordinated better.

I plan is to call a Youth Summit so that all the key stakeholders in youth related fields can take stock of where we're at now and where we're headed for the future.

Let's create a plan, a vision for this nation's young people in the year 2020.

I'd like to see voluntary organisations play a significant part in the Youth Summit.

So go to it. And always remember what Aristotle said, "If you harm a child, you harm the country."

How much better is it then if we all work towards a safe, healthy, enterprising population of young people?

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