Looking forward with hope

What do young people think of the world they are inheriting? It's Youth Week next week, so REBECCA TODD tries to find out.  

From parents' perspective, they are handing a bleak future on to their children. There is economic uncertainty, job losses and soaring fuel and food prices for a start.

The next generation is the first to be predicted to die before their parents as the obesity epidemic looms. Studies have shown today's young people will not enjoy the same wealth and standards of living as their parents. They are destined to be a renting generation as the cost of home ownership slips further out of reach and if predictions are true, they will be the ones dealing with the environmental disasters of global warming.

Despite all this, youths seem to have the same hope for the future that has always defined the young.

Spinning on his swivel chair, 17-year-old Gareth Brighton reckons most young people do not worry about "money and stuff like that".

"We just think it will work out. She'll be right."

Life is exciting for the youth of today. There are always parties to go to, bands to hear and art exhibits to visit, he says.

Brighton's eyes light up as he explains that music is the most important thing in his life.

"I want to be an artist and paint and make music and do stuff with my band, that's what I really care about. If I don't have money, it doesn't matter, as long as I can do that."

Brighton finds a creative outlet at the headquarters of Christchurch youth trust White Elephant, nestled in the corner of Manchester Street and Bedford Row. Teenagers lounge on a series of couches and armchairs, old video games line one wall and home-made decorations and art works are scattered around the floor and windowsills.

The headquarters is staffed by young people themselves and rooms are available to youth groups for meetings or events.

Techno music blasts from the DJ booth from which the trust's radio station is broadcast and young people can get free DJ lessons or just hang out.

At a meeting of WE Care, a group are discussing the next youth event where they will set up an area for "munted people" who need some time out or even a taxi home.

Head of the group is Penny Bundy. The 16-year-old is bubbly and confident and full of enthusiasm for the difference she can make in the world.

When asked about the future, she says she feels nothing but positive.

"Although you do hear about those crises, we are the generation that actually has the ability to change those things. We are growing up to say we are here and going to make a difference," she says.

"There are the negative things, but we are a positive counteracting force to that."

Looking around the headquarters, she says it is places like this that give young people confidence and opportunities to have their voices heard.

Last week, the trust organised for Bundy and a group of other young people to meet National Party leader John Key. It is also involved in intergenerational initiatives such as making podcasts of interviews with older generations and setting up mentoring programmes.

"People think we don't care or don't want to be involved. I think we do want to be, but people look over us because we are youths," she says.

Adults seem to be a bit afraid of young people and how they will cope with the world they are inheriting, says Bundy.

"They see us as the generation of the new world which is coming in with global warming and crime, but that was made by people before us, not those coming into it.

"I think our surroundings and increasing awareness of technology and global issues has made us the kind of generation that actually has the resources to make the change."

While adults grapple with rises in interest rates and rents, the young say their No.1 stress is school.

Taufa Tafuna believes she has educational opportunities her parents, raised in the Pacific islands, never had, as well as an outlook on life that makes her more open to new ideas.

"I definitely want to go to university. No-one else in my family has and they tell me I'm lucky. I'm more aware of the world then they would have been when they were 15.

"I feel like our future is going to be better than now. The job losses and stuff is not really affecting me and I have a feeling it will get a lot better than this," she says.

"Nothing worries me too much except school, really."

Youths are more connected with the world around them than ever before and say this brings both the good and the bad. They like knowing what is happening in other countries, but they worry about and feel part of the protests in Tibet and earthquakes in China in a way that people growing up without the internet and 24-hour news could not have done.

Riccarton High School student Chanelle Tauariki says she knows households are struggling, but she is really focusing on school.

"Watching the news and things can make me feel down, but I don't wake up in the morning feeling stressed about it, I just worry about school and family and friends."

Being a young Maori today is probably easier than in the past, she says, but her culture still tends to get a bad rap.

"With more crime on the streets, it worries me if they are Pacific Islander or Maori because it gives us a bad reputation, but I don't think there's racism, not that I know of."

She says lots of young people think school is stupid and drop out, but things like having a school kapa haka group make her feel like her culture is connected with her studies.

Anyone who has wandered down City Mall in the afternoon knows the young like to dress to stand out, but they say they are not seeking special attention. They seem to have few concrete goals in life, but plenty of ambition.

Troy Butler and Jacob Martin are both Year 11 at Cashmere High School. They say the world seems to be going down, but it does not affect the way they think about their future.

They are into the "rave scene", but also enjoy digging into their parents' CD collections and name David Bowie and Pink Floyd as some favourite artists.

Butler says he thinks about sky-rocketing fuel and food prices affecting his parents, but not him.

"At the moment I'm just thinking about getting through school and what to do after that. I definitely want to travel."

His dress sense can draw some stares on the street, he says. Previously an Emo, he used to don tight black jeans and tops, but he now likes to mix things up, sometimes wearing hippy threads or bright suits that belonged to his grandfather.

"I don't want to fall into everybody else, but I don't really want the special attention we seem to be getting either," he says.

Not succeeding in life would be his biggest fear, but Butler says he has the same opportunities his parents had to succeed.

He says the biggest difference between him and his parents' generation is the technology gap. Butler's computer is on 24/7. It sits ready on his bedroom desk so he can email replies to people and stay in contact while working on his art work or listening to music.

Fifteen-year-old Martin's list of what worries him is not dissimilar to that of many adults. After thinking for a moment, he slowly rattles off a series of world issues like the war in Iraq, petrol prices and global warming.

"Mostly it's just a brief thought, but when you put them all into one it's like the world is going down," he says.

"People don't seem to be solving the problems, but creating more.

"But I'm actually pretty happy about a lot of things and excited about the future," he says.

Despite media reports of a disconnected youth, living virtual lives in an online world, the teenagers interviewed say they have plenty of anchors in real life.

Many listed friends and family as the thing most important to them, and despite spending much of their time on the internet, it was to keep in contact with real friends, not to chat with strangers online.

Matthew Hanson spends hours of volunteer time at White Elephant giving free DJ lessons and playing at events.

The 15-year-old's fair, straight hair sweeps across his face in a style which has become synonymous with the youth of today.

"I'm feeling pretty good about the world. I think the future is going to be awesome. There's so many courses available and travel is easy and we have the internet, too. It's just a whole lot easier to do everything."

Nothing preys on his mind in the mornings except that he has to get up and go to school.

"Global warming will probably happen, but I'm sure we'll find a solution," he says.

At 17, Laura Haase says she has a few things on her mind.

"I'm worried about being able to have a good future and a good job, but I'm excited about going to uni," she says.

She is a member of the Green party because she likes its "family feel", and also volunteers with WE Care.

"I think I have had a lot more opportunities than my parents had. They just did what was expected of them."

 

 

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