Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

It is not the usual thing for me to do in this post to recommend television programmes to the community, but I would like to recommend that any of you who have Netflix take the time to watch the four part British series 'Adolescence'.

This series tackles some very relevant major issues around sexting, the Andrew Tate version of masculinity (if you don't know who he is, you need to know), and how social media use can warp a young person's perception of themselves and the world around them.

It is a harrowing series and definitely not one for young teens but as parents and caregivers, it is a very real insight into the often secretive and dark world our young people engage with through social media.

It deals with murder and sexuality. There is swearing and some pretty confronting language however, it is a reflection of the real issues our young men and women face and the messaging is very clear: learn as much as you can about social media and its capabilities, check on what your students are doing, keep the lines of communication open.

It also calls attention to the struggles young men can have in the world today in terms of understanding what healthy masculine role models look like. In NZ 31.5% of young men live in a home without a father and so there can be an attraction to social media personalities who offer advice and guidance on 'being a man' and that can be an incredibly warped view designed to get clicks and provoke controversy.

In the world of influencers, the more times your name is mentioned the more traffic is driven to your site so it doesn't matter if people love you or hate you, you make money. It's easier to make more money by being controversial, which is where we get the likes of Andrew Tate and his like.

Unfortunately, teenagers don't always have the critical thinking skills to sort the rot from the reality. They are often inexperienced, vulnerable, unsure of themselves and easily influenced. This series explores the worst results of this.

Our aim at St Kevin's is to build confident young men who have respect for women and for themselves. Young men who are proud to be young men, who will be good and loving husbands and kind and patient fathers. We want them to enjoy their physical strength, engage in the traditional masculine activities of hunting, fishing and rugby if they wish to or not if they don't. We want them to be self confident enough to know themselves, love themselves and be respectful and supportive to the people around them.

In a co educational community, we are lucky to be able to allow our young people to develop among members of the opposite sex and learn life lessons from each other. But this does not guarantee that our young people are not harmed by the wider world and its nastiness. We just do the best we can as do our amazing parents, step parents and caregivers.

Thank you for everything you do to support us.

Have a great long weekend

God Bless

Jo