should the voting age be lowered to 16?

In my opinion I strongly believe that the voting age should be lowered to 16. From being a teenager I think that we don't get enough of a say in what happens in our future. The government don't do much for teenagers, especially when every decision they make decides our future. Having the voting age lowered would be a pro for our country. I understand that many older people believe that we would just be foolish and abuse the privilege of being able to vote at such a young age, but I believe that our generation is extremely capable of voting responsibly. 

I think if the government were to lower the voting age adults or people over the age of 18 shouldn't get to decide this referendum. I believe that the targeted age group should get to make this decision. It would be a great way to really test them to see if they are really up for voting at such a young age. If New Zealand were to lower then voting age this could potentially attract more people to vote and the percentages could be higher than they've ever been. 

Like I mentioned before, adults have that fixed mindset and they believe that we will not have the maturity to vote for the right party. But adults don't really know what is right for us because we are all different and we all have different views of our country and whats best for it. So I think if we were to lower the voting age we wouldn't vote for the RIGHT PARTY because frankly there isn't a right party. All of the parties have something to offer, except national but I'll just leave that there. but we would vote for what we want in our future. Cause we have all these adults who are voting for things they want for them, completely forgetting about the actual future of our country and just letting us be collateral damage to their stupid decisions.

Keep NZ Beautiful 2020

 

In my opinion the most pressing environmental issue is Pollution, more specifically the pollution we make. On Friday 11th of September we walked the streets of Kawakawa picking up rubbish. This was our way of contributing to the restoration of our once pristine landscape. Picking up rubbish applies a positive impact on our environment, even if it’s only picking up a small bit it’s still something. 

Walking the streets of Kawakawa we found heaps and heaps of rubbish. Most of which were alcohol bottles, and plastic bags. I think as kaitiakitanga of Papatuanuku it is our responsibility to stop the contamination of our country. Filling around 6 rubbish bags of litter I think we did an alright job for our annual clean up. Although picking up rubbish may seem boring we seem to enjoy it, it’s a good chance for us to bond as a class and just have an overall good time.

Together as a class I think we made a positive impact on our earth. Even though it wasn’t much we still did a lot to help. I think as a school/community to help the environment we can be more sustainable with our use of plastics etc. We can watch how much we waste and make sure we put our rubbish in the bin and not on the ground. 

I think that doing the annual rubbish pickup is a good idea, not only because it’s helping restore the environment but also because it gives students a chance to be hands on and actually see how rubbish impacts our environment. This year was our second year of the Keep New Zealand beautiful scheme, and I think it was a success. I’m glad we had the opportunity to do the clean up, and i’d like to do it again.

Human Rights & Social Justice

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Maths Animation

This week in maths we were working on slide animations. We put together a variety of slides to explain what perimeter and area are and how to find them. I focused more on how to find the area of a triangle. I used around 27 slides to form this animation. This wasn't too difficult, because it was mostly duplicating slides and adding a small detail every time. This is a lot like stop motion animation except a different site, and instead of using lots of photos you use lots of slides

Measuring Wood

We have been learning about measurement, the different units, and the different things you can use to measure with. In groups we made a video on how to measure the given object. The video below shows how to measure a average piece of wook with a metre ruler. After many attempts at recording this is our final outcome.

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/16MySJxh2mEN7NxSjvO9llyZ56UiuA1Np/preview" width="640" height="480"></iframe>

Bay of Islands College Students Clean up Kawakawa

On Friday the 13th of September 2019, my class and I walked around Kawakawa picking up
rubbish, to help keep the town clean. Mr Higgins and Chase took us. Before we started our walk we all met back up at the park by the train bridge. We found lots of rubbish under and around the bridge.
By the time we got to Commercial Street our bags were already half full.
We walked from school to Commercial Street, then up to Church Street, then took a left onto Albert Street. We walked all the way up to Kawakawa Primary School then turned around and walked down through the main street. I came across a Car Ignition in a bush, and lots of lollipop sticks. Mr Markin met us on our way back and took some photos. We went to the shop on our way back and bought some food. We all hung out at the park for a wee bit while we ate. We picked up more rubbish on our way back to school as well. During our Rubbish pick up we were interviewed by Peter de Graaf, a reporter from the Northern Advocate. He took lots of photos of us picking up rubbish.

#savetheturtles
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=12267510

Ihumatao 600 Word Essay

In social studies I have been learning about Ihumatao and the ongoing feud for the land between the Maori and the Government. I tried to base my research around the question “Why do Maori not want to give the land to the government.”

Ihumatao is an area of volcanic land on the west side of South Auckland where protesters have gathered to stop housing development on the tapu land. Maori are trying to retain and conserve the stolen land. Maori say that they should not pay for that because it was stolen from them, and that the land should in fact be gifted back to the Maori. In November 2016 S.O.U.L group (save our unique landscape) led by Pania Newton set up camp beside the land of Ihumatao. The camp became known as Kaitiaki Village. In the beginning the camp had only 20 people, sleeping in caravans, tents, and sheds. Now there are over 100 people in the Kaitiaki Village. Around 30 days ago an eviction notice was issued, and the protesters have still continued to occupy the land. Wikipedia, updated 2nd September 2019.

The protesters that have been occupying the land took a hikoi to prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s Mt Albert office on the 22nd of August 2019. Leaving at 8 am they were on a mission to deliver a petition for Ardern to go to the sight. 200 protesters marched through thunder, hail and rain just to be greeted by an empty office. Representatives of Jacinda received the petition in her absence. Otago daily times, 15th August 2019.

Ihumatao was believed to be one of the first places Maori settled in New Zealand. The Maori had used the land for so much as farming, settlement, and lots more.  In 1863 the land of Ihumatao cleared, then in 1865 was taken by Governor Grey under decree, around the time of the Waikato invasion. The land was seized with authority under the New Zealand Settlements Act of 1863. Under the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi it states that “ Maori are guaranteed the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, and only the crown could purchase land from them. Because the land of Ihumatao was stolen not purchased it had contravened the 1840 Treaty Of Waitangi agreement. The land of Ihumatao was taken from the Maori as a punishment because of their support of the Kingitanga Movement. Te Papa official site.

In late 2018 the Environmental Court said no to overturning the permission granted to Fletcher Building to build the houses on the land of Ihumatao. Fletcher Building had been through the Waitangi Tribunal, The Environmental Court, and the Maori land court. Early 2019 Fletcher Building said that if a good offer came along they’d be open to selling the land. Otago daily times 26th July 2019

Ihumatao was farmed by the Wallace family for 150 years. In 2012 the Auckland council tried to publicate the land but the Environment Court decided it would be used as business or housing land. In 2016 the Wallace family sold the land of Ihumatao to Fletcher Building in 2016 to build a new subdivision. The large company of Fletcher Building are planning to build 480 new houses on the land, as Auckland is suffering a housing crisis. Otago daily times, 26th July 2019

In 2017 land campaigners took their story to the UN with a fight hoping for a positive outcome. They claimed that this was a breach under the Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous people. The UN recognised that the Maori hadn’t given consent nor were they even consulted. The UN recommended that the government considered the Treaty of Waitangi and the agreements it came with. Otago Daily Times, 26th July 

Ihumatao was stolen in 1865, now in 2019 it has still not been returned, and what are we going to do about it? Let colonisation continue to ruin our country and the values we live by? Or are we going to stop it?