Five teenage girls killed themselves in Kaitaia last month, another one a few days ago. Another beautiful young life wasted before any potential could be realised.
We have to start thinking with our hearts, or else we will face a grim future. When financial concerns overrideour love for one another, where is the reason to live? When children are made false promises and we advertise to them a selfish, shallow, vain life of fame and wealth instead of a purposeful and socially responsible life, we are demeaning them and give them nothing real to live for.
What are we saying to our young people? That they are not good enough, while we constantly raise the bar. For God's sake, why are we treating our young like a burden, undesirables or criminals, and not making room for them to make an honest contribution and earn a living in our society? There is so much work that needs to be done.
Where is the love? I know 'harden up' is the current thinking. Or blame the parents. This attitude reminds me of that old medieval story, a warning maybe, of a town where they fed their children to an insatiable beast in order to protect themselves. The story symbolises, I suppose, the future being sacrificed for a short-term solution which is no real solution at all.
Let's then at least teach them the free and simple pleasures in life that will sustain them, even in hard times. We can at least teach them to be independent in spirit, even if we can't find them paid work.
Let's start by teaching them and ourselves how to sit around an open fire making conversation and music, cook and share a meal from the garden or the natural environment, go fishing, make something, get a real achievable life.
