Perspectives from 30 years of training youth
After more than 30 years guiding youth in the North Wellington and Porirua City environs, on 12 December New Zealand Cadet Forces Porirua squadron Leader Grant te Tau will hand over the reins to a former pupil.
“He has been with us [from age] 13, it will be great to hand the leadership over to him.
“It’s great keeping [the role] with people that came through the system, you can really see the fruits of your labour,” says Mr te Tau.
Other local achievers have come from his ranks such as former Porirua Council youth Councillor Ronwan Kropp, an 18 year-old studying law.
“The major problem is that a lot of kids fall idle, you need to change that by showing them what they can get from work.
“It’s about getting buy-in from them ... finding out the end goal is challenging,” he says.
Volunteer cadet training and mentoring is work that Mr te Tau fits around his own career at the Ministry of Justice. He is sceptical of the recent government moves to force all youth under 18 into work or training schemes.
“You can’t force people into work, it’s reminiscent of the draft days ... you have to create the want in them”.
He says 30 years-ago fewer services were available to youth to help them into work.
“Now days you need to have a plan B, you can’t be narrow minded and put all your eggs in one basket – there are opportunities everywhere,” Mr te Tau says.
Lower Hutt squadron leader Wayne Buckingham is another long-serving cadet. Joining in 1971, he has trained 13 to 18 year-olds for over 30 years. He says it is easy to pick holes in government youth training schemes because when you deal with difficult kids a 50 percent pass rate might seem low, but in effect is a good outcome.
“The social programmes of this government need more time to prove themselves, much more than two years.
“The big question is what will happen to these kids after they come out of the training,” Mr Buckingham says.
He says a major force that created a sense of suffering, violence and hopelessness in communities was the move away from savings schemes in the 1980s and 90s.
“Back then people at 25 years of age were actually discouraged from making long-term savings.
“When you have a family that has a job, and money, and can offer security to their children, then you don’t see issues with the youth”.
New Zealand is in a unique situation in the world because it has time to step back and see the root causes, before doing something about them. Mr Buckingham’s partner is a youth worker in Wales, and they share the view that when hope for the future is lost, the rest follows.
“Our motto is train to serve, it’s an old war saying, but you can apply it to the modern day in serving the community”.
