GERALDTON YOUTH - YES WE CAN

This week I thought I would adopt a project to help keep my feelings of depression at bay. I'm still not in a position to hold down a regular teaching job, but I thought maybe some community service may be helpful for me. It was hard to think of what I could realistically do, while constantly travelling between Geraldton and Perth, because if I could commit to regular hours I would be back in my job.

Then one night I had an idea after reading an outburst on a local social network site. There has been a lot of trouble in my town of late - break ins, car theft, damage of all sorts and assault. It seems to have increased significantly but the police say that there is really only a marginal increase in crime. They say social media reporting is spreading stories more quickly than ever before. Because of this more people are aware and it feels like we are living in a ghetto or a war zone.

I know there are problems in this town but I also feel that the people ( mainly youth) causing them are in the minority not the majority. I think there are so many good young people in this town who are doing great things and because of social media fanning the troubles, the young people doing the right things are being largely forgotten. It concerns me every time I return to Geraldton to hear our youth being spoken about so badly.

I worked as a teacher in this town from 1988-2013 and I raised both my daughters here. I think my teacher colleagues and I have done as good a job as possible with the youth of this town, often with limited resources, staffing, funding etc. I know many teachers who fund supplies for their classrooms from their own pockets to give kids the best.

And I think the kids in this town are the best. A lot of kids I have had the privilege of teaching have come from harsh backgrounds. Most have " come good" later in life. Most couldn't deal with school because of family and societal issues, but are having a go and playing their part in society now.

So, back to my project. It's a new facebook page called Geraldton Youth - yes we can. It's a celebration of the young people in this town who do great things and do them regularly. In the three days since I started this, we've had stories that range from kids with medical conditions who are attending school regardless, to new trainees in new jobs. We've had kids helping in the community and those giving excellent service in their place of work. We've even had two young entrepreneurs and their lemonade stall.

It's a new page. It may last a week, a month, a year. However long it lasts, its obvious from the responses I'm getting that people are worn out by the constant negativity in the local media  and uplifted by the simple, everyday stories of the good kids; the kids having a go and doing good things.

Let the police sort out the crime and by all means let's be involved in neighbourhood watch. But lets stop wallowing in all the bad stories and concentrate on the good for a while. No better place to start than with our kids.

Till next time...xxx

https://www.facebook.com/suzannaht/posts/10153056449505412