Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Let's Listen to The Principal

The speech is appalling. The reality is worse…

Virginia Crawford has been vilified for speaking truth into a dimly lit room that many of us would prefer to remain ignorant of. And New Conservative stands with the heart of Principal Crawford’s words.

“Truancy is not usually a cause of the pain and misery we see within the lives of our rangatahi,” says New Conservative Deputy Leader Elliot Ikilei. "Truancy is an indicator for us, whether parent, teacher, or youth worker. Truancy loudly proclaims that ‘something is broken or hurt inside me’. For every truanting child who has managed to become successful, there are far too many who have endured further damage and subjected the community to that same damage.

“If we do not listen and react to such a cry, then we cannot delude ourselves later with the common lament of 'slipped through the cracks of the system'”.

Once the emotional offence has subsided from Principal Crawford’s honesty, then the real work can begin, by focusing on an activity that is accepted to be an indicator of future success or failure by both academics and those on the front line.

And the fact that over the last two years, Māori and Pasifika students came in at just over 50% regular attendance in school, should be a wake up call in itself.

Instead of spending millions of taxpayer dollars on talking conferences, New Conservative stands for putting those valuable dollars into the hands of those on the frontline of pulling children out of truant behaviour.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

We will reinstate charter schools, that had excellent levels of student attendance due to operational freedom. We will also bring in trade-streaming from Year 9 if desired, and our Justice and Family policies will ensure that the building blocks will be stronger and repaired from the damage caused from over thirty years of social experimentation.

This is one of the times where the front-line and academia are in agreement:

"Longitudinal studies of Christchurch and Dunedin children have found absence to be a strong predictor of violence later in life, and anticipatory of delinquency, substance abuse, suicidal risk, unemployment and early parenting."
SASR report 2018

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.