IT’s Youth Week from 4-13 April – an appropriate time to put our local youth under the microscope.
Some general questions were put to a group of teenagers at Port Macquarie High School to ask what it is like being young today. What is life like living in the Hastings? What is it they love and what is it they hate? And what do they think the future holds for them?
All agreed Port Macquarie and the surrounding area is a great place to live and grow up.
“We feel safe and protected,” Kirsty Philpot said. “It’s like living in a bubble. It’s where we all grew up.”
“I appreciate that we have plenty of water and I like the climate generally,” Rhys Marquez said. “As I lived in a dry area in Western Queensland.”
Rachel Alger likes having her school close to the beach. “We can slip across the road for lessons in Coastal Management. How good is that?”
“I’ve lived here all my life, so I can’t compare it really,” Sahara Hargraves admitted. “I like it here.”
Ryan Milroy liked the fact that Port Macquarie has eight beaches. “That’s a big part of what makes Port Macquarie such an attractive place to be,” he said.
Mitchell Burgess complained that there are not enough jobs and things to do after school and Georgie Gaul said she misses Peppermint Park and Fantasy Glades.
“Port lacks any kind of theme park now and we seem to be going backwards in that area,” Georgie said.
Asked what it is like being a teenager in today’s world, Kellie McMurtrie was quick to point out how much pressure there is on young people today.
“There’s pressure put on us by our teachers, our parents, society in general and even by ourselves. We pressure ourselves to be the best we can especially when it comes to school work,” she said.
By contrast, the younger students felt little or no pressure at all.
“Being young means not having responsibilities,” Rhys Marquez said.
Sahara Hargraves said that being young meant not having any worries about money. “It’s great when everything we need is provided,” she said.
“There is so much pressure on us making our life choices while we are still finding out who we are. We don’t know who we are yet,” Kirsty Philpot admitted.
However, all agreed that their life is not set in stone and that they can still change their minds at any time.
“We are free to make our own choices,” Ryan Milroy said.
The Year 12 students were effusive in their praise for some of their teachers, who go out of their way to make life easier for them.
“Some even come in on weekends to conduct extra lessons,” they said. “They really go out of their way to be helpful. Our year advisers are like second dads to us.”
While the students admitted their lives are happy and living in the Hastings is great, some were critical too.
“I hate the tourist season,” Sahara Hargraves complained.
“I hate the roads and the potholes,” Rhys Marquez said. “They seem to make them worse when they try to fix the problem.”
Rachel Alger regrets not having as many museums and cultural activities as the big city, but admits that we’ve preserved much of our history and heritage.
Surprisingly, all of the 11 students spoken to plan on going to university. Only Rhys Marquez from the junior school seemed sure about wanting to study medicine. The others were not sure of their choices yet. The remainder of the group from Years 11 and 12 had more firm ideas, but all were keen to point out that university isn’t everything.
