Tony Orman: Outdoors Solution to NZ’s Beleaguered Teenagers

Startling statistics on teenager suicide, pregnancy and other social ills reflects NZ government’s disregard for the outdoors and its solid values says Tony Orman 

National and its leader Christopher Luxon recently promoted military style training for wayward youths as a solution to rampant youth crime. 

The furore from the “goody two shoes” brigade lambasting National for the concept of boot camps for wayward youth has been loud. To my understanding, Luxon never mentioned the phrase “boot camps” although critics in both the media and Labour/Greens government have conveniently used “boot camps” to denigrate the concept. 

Despite these attempts to smear the concept the majority of the public, going by radio talk back, favour the idea.

Unfortunately National with clumsy P.R. reportedly mentioned “military”. That was a clumsy mistake - it would’ve been far better to have modelled the concept positively on Outward Bound.

Former Chief Science Officer Sir Peter Gluckman told ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan that taking young offenders out of environments from which they can return to is unlikely to work, as it hasn’t in the past. He says any proposed solution needs to be independently assessed, and more transparency is needed on the outcome.

Well Gluckman is somewhat astray. I was drafted into Compulsory Military Training (CMT) in the 1950s. As one who is long enough in the tooth to have done CMT in the late 1950s, I can recall the 14 week stint did wonders for practically all entrants. It built self esteem, taught discipline and educated in special skills. It moulded bullies into shape as bullying is really reflecting a lack of self esteem. It turned youngsters turned from “mummy boys” into strapping youth. It also instilled personal discipline.

Note it was compulsory training for all 18 year olds.

Turning to today’s youth crime tsunamis, the wayward youth indulging in ram raids and other crimes are simply lacking self esteem and of course discipline.

National’s idea is good in principle and should be pursued with Youth Training modelled on Outward Bound. Teach them outdoor skills in survival, bushcraft, an awareness of the natural world, respect, safety and use of firearms, people skills and other attributes. 

Really the problems of youth have been glaringly obvious for decades. New Zealand’s youth have been struggling for many years and over successive decades increasingly so, leading to the current tsunami.

Statistics

In 2020, UNICEF New Zealand  clearly spelt out the situation as regards tomorrow’s citizens. 

“UNICEF New Zealand is calling for significant investment and policy change to address deeply embedded and terrifying childhood trends around obesity, suicide, as well as declining proficiency in reading and maths, following the release of comparative data today as part of UNICEF’s Report Card.’

“Out of 41 EU and OECD countries, New Zealand ranks 35th in child wellbeing outcomes.”

“New Zealand has the second highest obesity rate in the OECD. More than 1 in 3 children are obese or overweight. “

“Meanwhile only 64.6% of 15 year olds in New Zealand have basic proficiency in reading and maths.” 

UNICEF New Zealand Executive Director Vivien Maidaborn said these poor grades showed New Zealand was failing its children. 

New Zealand’s youth suicide rate is the second worst in the developed world at 14.9 deaths per 100,000 adolescents. 

This rate is more than twice the average among the 41 OECD countries surveyed (6.5 deaths per 100,000 adolescents). This report references the most recent and comparable data across 41 countries.

Tragic Failure

“The Report Card gives New Zealand an F for failure when it comes to well-being outcomes for children,” said Vivien Maidaborn. “This is a woeful result for a country that prides itself on the great outdoors, academic achievement, and the international success of our sports teams. It is time to be alarmed and activated about the inequality of opportunity, health and wellbeing in NZ.”

The current government generated much hype about this year’s budget, with Finance Minister Robertson describing it as a “well-being” one. Prime Minister Ardern joined in the exultation. It was meaningless political rhetoric.

To reiterate, it’s nothing new. Take youth suicides. They have been on the increase since the 1980s.

The OECD Family Database showed New Zealand in 1990 and 2000 had consistently high teenage suicides in the 15 to 19 year bracket at about 16 per 100,000 persons. Not one of the governments - led by Lange, Clark, Key or Ardern -  seemed concerned.  

Consequently by 2015 this had risen to 24 per 100,000 and the unenviable position then of being the worst country for teenage suicides.

If New Zealand governments turned a blind eye, even some overseas sources seemed aware of New Zealand’s youth problem. Three years ago, British healthcare think tank the Nuffield Trust said New Zealand ranks poorly in terms of adolescent suicide and teenage pregnancies.

Flabby Obesity

New Zealand’s society has deteriorated. Technological developments are amazing and bewildering but not always for the common good. At the same time new Zealanders are falling prey to the weakness of an indoor nation and the flabby obesity of a sedentary society.

New Zealand has lost its way and particularly with its younger people. 

It is nothing new.

Yet the grim statistics do not get much publicity as governments turn a blind eye or sweep it under the proverbial carpet.

Sadly today some youths, often just in their early teens, are committing heinous crimes or indulged in senseless vandalism and irresponsible behaviour. Because of a mixture of boredom, bewilderment and a feeling of helplessness, youngsters are lashing out. 

Some are killing themselves to escape.

Their confidence for the future was often uncertain and self-esteem frequently low.

Young people have energies to burn which if not channelled down the right path, have the potential to go awry. But the outdoors and pursuits like fishing and hunting are healthy outlets for that adolescent energy. Stalking and shooting a rabbit or catching a kahawai, snapper or trout is an achievement and those successes build confidence, self-belief and self esteem to make them better people and better citizens. 

Society wins. 

Under good tuition, a youngster learns qualities like patience, observation and an appreciation in just being outdoors and a respect for the fish or game that is pursued. A youngster can be taught to fish or hunt wisely, never taking more than is needed and not killing wantonly.

But things have been stacked up against outdoor recreation by government policies that often have direct or indirect detrimental impact. And it’s increasingly so in the modern, rapidly changing society of today. Modern life is confused by a growing imbalance between the spread of man and his developments and nature.

We should be encouraging young New Zealanders into the outdoors.                          But sadly government priorities and policies don’t give incentive but even spawn disincentives by way of policies. One impediment to access to the outdoors is increasing foreign ownership of New Zealand farms resulting in locked gates in contrast to once when most Kiwi farming families willingly granted access.

Pollution

Rivers that youngsters once swam and fished in, have had flows depleted by irrigation for corporate dairying. In turn, nitrates and other pollution have fouled water quality. 

Alarmingly 61 percent of NZ’s lowland rivers are rated unfit for swimming.

New Zealanders are not getting outdoors. Young New Zealanders are losing their connection with the outdoors while youth obesity, mental health and suicide rates are unacceptably high for a country of just 5 million people.

New Zealanders have been duped by an “imagined Godzone self portrayal”. The outdoors, despite being a a great playground and classroom for youngsters to learn observational and outdoor skills to get physical exercise and mental stimulation and good values, were being eroded by development, exploitation and bureaucratic policies.

The fact is we are not serving young people well and government policies are blocking access for the public to the outdoors.

A very recent report reiterated New Zealand adolescents had ranked high in OECD countries’  teenage suicide and pregnancies rates.  It prompted New Zealand’s Neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis in 2019 to express deep concern.

"We've got this idea that New Zealand is this wonderful, clean, green, beautiful nation that is a wonderful place to raise children, so this paints a different picture,” he said.

Outward Bound

There was a very good model for youth education in Outward Bound in the Marlborough Sounds but the philosophy was being ignored by governments. Referring to "loss of access to the outdoors" numerous policies of government are factors. Dirty rivers like Canterbury’s Selwyn once a fully flowing, clean clear river, a world-revered dry fly trout and swimming river are now algae infested and toxic. Many other rivers have summer warnings of toxic algae due to depleted flows and nutrient leaching.

Other government policies adversely impact directly or indirectly, on the public’s outdoors. The widespread use of poisons such as 1080 is not only unjustified but ecologically disruptive and poisoning public lands.  Who wants to tramp, fish or hunt in an area top-dressed with toxic baits?

An open door policy of successive governments over decades to encourage foreigners to buy farms and in particular high country and farm land often resulted in locked gates and denials of access over large areas. Saltwater fisheries mismanagement gave commercial fishing companies interests far higher ranking than recreational fishing.

Billion Dollars

Yet just looking at it economically recreational fishing stimulates over a billion dollars a year in economic activity.

A Horizon survey of sporting participation rates in 2012  showed fishing had more than five times more people participating than rugby. Twenty-six percent enjoyed fishing while just five percent played rugby.

When it came to “getting off the couch”, 25.5 percent of adult men and 18 percent of women fished while with youth, about 35 percent went fishing.

Yet government, society and media gave far more attention to rugby than outdoor recreation such as fishing. 

The list goes on and on where governments out of ignorance have let the public and particularly youngsters down by policies allowing the despoiling of the outdoors. The solution to helping young Kiwis out of their predicament is a recognition of the priceless value of outdoor recreation whether it be fishing, hunting, tramping or others, to youngsters.

From once being an outdoor-minded people, New Zealanders have become sedentary, stressed, uncertain and often lost. The youth statistics mirror that. 

At least National is attempting to find a solution.

Tony Orman has spent a lifetime in the outdoors, fishing and hunting and has had some two dozen books published on outdoors.