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November 28, 2022
ACT – the freedom Party of small Government wants to criminalize students and encroach into schools
Waatea Team
Posted On November 28, 2022
ACT – the freedom Party of small Government wants to criminalize students and encroach into schools
There is a contradiction at the heart of ACTs sudden desire to manipulate public anger at youth crime. ACT are the ‘freedom’ party who want the State out of the lives of individuals, yet here they are intruding into schools with their wish to criminalise truant students.
It’s funny how it only ever seems to be freedom and small Government for rich people, when it’s the most vulnerable in society, ACT can’t strap on the boots to kick with fast enough.
We have just gone through Covid, mass illness and economic stress, there are a multitude of reasons why our truancy rates are skyrocketing and I can assure you fining students who are already desperate isn’t a solution.
ACT don’t care if this becomes counterproductive, because this isn’t about the nobel reasons they claim, it is about harvesting reactionary anger to youth crime.
It isn’t about solving youth crime.
Right now many whanau and many in the community are suffering while we absolutely need our children at school and learning.
Let’s help one to solve the other.
Free breakfasts, lunch and period products will do more to attract kids back to school than fining them!
Let’s ensure uniform costs aren’t a barrier.
Let’s entrench renters rights to provide stability in those precarious communities while building many more State Homes.
Let’s ensure there’s free public transport for school kids.
Let’s ensure schools are funded as social hubs after school so that wrap around services have a direct access point for whanau.
Let’s absolutely solve Truancy, but do it rationally and in a way that encourages people to prioritise the education of their children at a time of heightened economic anxiety, illness and anger.
These ram raiding youth have a median age of 14, that means they are the legacy of John Key’s draconian welfare policies.
These are the kids who were living in cars, getting thrown out of State housing for false meth contamination tests and who had parents incarcerated in our private prison complex.
How on earth does it make sense to respond to the bitter harvest of heavy handed social policy with more heavy handed social policy?
There are about 100 ram raiders, 80% of whom are known to welfare agencies, why are we allowing fear driven by corporate news media to justify putting 10 year old children in ankle bracelets and fine truant students?
Let’s face the challenge in front of us without shying away from its enormity, but basic punishment ideas as social policy doesn’t work.
We are better than the solutions being currently offered by those attempting to harvest peoples fear.
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.nz
twitter.com/CitizenBomber
Radio Waatea and its board would like to advise that the opinions expressed in this article are those of Martyn ‘Bomber Bradbury’ and not necessarily the views of Radio Waatea, its Management or its Board.
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