Providing rangatahi with an outlet to express their concerns is critical. If they are not provided with a safe, healthy, supported outlet, then they are at risk of finding an unsafe outlet.
Giving rangatahi a constructive way to share their thoughts and feelings supports identity formation and self-expression.
"We want to create a hunger in our rangatahi to recognise and value the importance of learning."
Rangatahi Writers' Group sees rangatahi grow over a period of weeks, as they explore issues that circle in their minds. Getting those ideas onto paper and having them published in our Whakarongo ki te Reo Mātātahibook series drives a sense of confidence and creativity.
We hear too many young people talking about feeling helpless. They see the challenges mounting in an increasingly chaotic and complex world. Social media is powerful; unfortunately, the harm it creates is often more powerful than the good that comes from it. Creative writing is a life skill for our rangatahi that, once learnt, goes into their kete or tool kit so they can pull it out at any time.
Whakarongo ki te Reo Mātātahi isn't just a publication of the powerful stories written by our rangatahi; through our Curious Minds framework, rangatahi get to explore these issues and, rather than come up with solutions, they are encouraged to understand why they happened in the first place and why they have not yet been addressed.
We want to create a hunger in our rangatahi to recognise and value the importance of learning, as through it comes the potential to address the problems they worry about.
Listen to the voices of our young Aucklanders.
Read their stories in the first two editions of Whakarongo ki te reo Mātātahi.
