This week, we had a whole crop of the best apples land on the ground across the South, a reminder, if ever it were needed, of the strength and intellectual capacity of the young people of our region.
In these days of grim news, of disasters here and tragedies there, all taking place in a heating world which offers an uncertain future for younger generations, the annual Otago Daily Times Class Act awards are a shaft of light and a dash of hope.
On Wednesday, 56 pupils from 28 schools across Otago were honoured in a ceremony at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery for their distinction in academic studies, and excellence in sporting and cultural endeavours.
These future leaders of New Zealand were congratulated in person by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who encouraged them to maintain empathy with others, grab hold of the opportunities that come their way with the right attitude, lead by example, and stick to their core values.
There can be no doubt that these Class Act recipients will grasp the nettle and take many of us along with them, teaching us a thing or two on the way.
While the apple epithet is usually applied to children having similar characteristics to their parents, in this instance we use it to more broadly, to reflect the many good influences the South has had on this year’s Class Act members.
Unfortunately, these apples are unlikely to stay in New Zealand.
Like all our best creations, many will end up overseas, but hopefully not for good. They will want to experience the world beyond our shores; that world, in return, will want to entice them to stay and harness their bright, curious and can-do approach.
But there can be no doubt we need them here, with their fresh ideas and energy.
It might sound somewhat harsh, but the generations above them, of their parents’ and grandparents’ age and even going back a couple more, are not necessarily good role models. Not when you consider the state of the planet now and the headlong rush to continue plundering resources and polluting it, in pursuit of the seemingly never-ending holy grail of increasing economic growth.
The class of 2013 told the ODT recently what their biggest concerns are now they are in their late 20s and what the major issues should be in next month’s election.
The state of the economy, the cost-of-living crunch and the housing crisis rated highly, but fears about the habitability of the Earth, given the accelerating climate emergency, elicited the strongest and most anxious responses.
Every time we hear that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are failing to make a dent in rising global temperatures, we need to ponder why.
It’s because humanity wants to continue doing much of what it currently is, only even better.
The consequences of not making significant changes to the way we live now are going to lie heavily across the shoulders of our younger folk.
But, apart from taking action themselves to lighten their footprint on the world, what leadership and encouragement can they find from our political leaders?
Both National and Labour seem largely absent without leave on the climate change issue, focusing instead on the more emotive and easy hits for middle-aged and older voters. Outrageously, National even wants to use money from the Climate Emergency Response Fund to pay towards part of its promised tax cuts.
This lack of guidance is a terrible example to set the leaders of tomorrow, who will be grappling head-on with the issues as we should be doing now.
Only the Green Party appears to be concerned about taking climate change seriously and targeting policies to do so.
Take a good look at the Class Act members for 2023.
Draw inspiration from them.
Seeing these smart youngsters with such great promise should encourage us to stop sitting on our hands and do as much as we can to save the environment, the climate, and the world, for their sake and that of the generations yet to come.
