Official Report 1065KB pdf
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader today is Neil Crabtree, conflict negotiator.
Thank you for your time. The title of this talk is, “A contemporary rite of passage for young people”.
Like you, I am deeply concerned about the behaviour of young people who are carrying and using knives. Many commentators describe how young males in particular no longer have the opportunity to experience a heroic rite of passage into adult and community life. Rites of passage are a practical, spiritual and psychological phenomenon, and, up until recently in this country, that was largely provided by traditional industry. However, the environmental problems that are upon us, and which many predict are due to worsen, may provide an opportunity to create a contemporary model and draw youngsters, both males and females equally, into strengthening community life.
I will project 30 years into a future when, I think, high winds, fires and flooding will be common. Local voluntary environmental services have been organised that encourage young people to join as apprentices. These services are run by adults who themselves have been trained to become trainers by the emergency services involved—for example, the police, search and rescue, the fire brigade, the Red Cross and the Army. These adults are selected for their ability to empathise with young people. In other words, the rite element, which was largely random and unrecognised in traditional employment, is well thought through and wound around the activities—a mix of kindness, skill, knowledge and discipline.
At the age of 16, apprentices receive the following training, often in purpose-built outward-bound centres: first aid, particularly around shock, burns and resuscitation; flood management, which involves sand-bagging in teams and boat handling; high winds, which involves operating chain saws and clearing up damage; firefighting, which involves putting out bushfires; searching for missing people, including rope and tunnelling skills; and setting up emergency centres and working with people under stress.
On completing the training course, the apprentices are welcomed into the organisation/community with a formal ceremony and a meal to which they can invite friends and family. They are awarded a certificate that entitles them to reductions with popular businesses and informed that they will always be members of the service and on stand-by. Some will be called in for voluntary refresher courses and those who wish to develop skills in a particular area will be encouraged, and funded, to do so. Many become trainers in later life.
Now, back from the future. Thanks to the Quakers and Rhoda Grant.
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