New Zealand’s survival relies upon New Zealand Youth

'He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata' 'What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people , it is people.'

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Imagine for a moment that you were watching a group of Youth getting into serious trouble: something that could have ongoing consequences for the rest of their lives. What would you do? What would you say? Would you get involved, or would you pretend not to notice?

A timely word, a careful intervention, a gentle nudge in the right direction, is often all that is needed to prevent Youth from making serious mistakes. True, we all need to make mistakes in order to learn, but there are some mistakes that don’t need to be made by anybody. And most of those mistakes are either fatal or against the Law.

The Guardian Angels are here to help Youth from making these sorts of mistakes. We are often the last adults they will encounter before they do something that brings them into conflict with the Law. We are Society’s last good opportunity to say “No” and to make it stick: before they do something where the Police and the Courts need to intervene.

As often as not, we protect Youth from themselves, and from their own mistakes. We are, after all, their Guardian Angels: we look out for their best interests and try to keep them from harm. That is what Guardian Angels do. And we have some great success stories to tell!

But we’re not the Taliban, either. We enjoy providing a safe environment where New Zealand Youth can have a good time. That is why the Guardian Angels are often seen at Youth events, providing First Aid and security services.

Being a Guardian Angel is all about being a good, positive role model for Youth. It’s about providing a positive outlet for helping others — showing them that “Community Service” is an opportunity, and not a sentence. It is about helping Youth to developing their Character, instilling into them an ethos of caring and community participation, involvement, and good Citizenship: things that they may not have opportunity to directly encounter under other circumstances.

For some Youth, being a Guardian Angel is a chance to do something positive after they have finished with the Boy Scouts or Girl Guides. Many of our New Zealand Youth do not participate in team sports like Rugby, Cricket and Netball; for these Youth, the Guardian Angels provides a unique opportunity to belong to a disciplined, high performance Team, and to learn the team dynamics and leadership skills they would otherwise have missed out on. And for others it is a chance to learn great life skills like CPR, First Aid, and self-defense: skills that they can use elsewhere, in employment and in their travels. For some, the Guardian Angels provide a chance to escape from a lifestyle of violence, substance abuse, and criminality. And for others it is valuable work experience: a chance to gain some valuable entries on their first CV — for the Guardian Angels have a policy of recognizing our Volunteers and acting as references for the work that they have done for us.

We do not mind why Youth become involved. And we will work with anybody: corporations, families, government agencies, law enforcement, the Courts, clubs and associations — even the gangs. Anybody who is interested in helping give the Youth of New Zealand a chance to be the best that they can be, irrespective of personal circumstance.

Youth have many reasons for encountering the Guardian Angels, and even more reasons for joining us. Being a Guardian Angel is an adventure that few volunteer opportunities can provide: and best of all participation is free of charge, which is a price that every Youth and family can afford.

For over thirty years, in over 150 cities and 15 countries worldwide, the Guardian Angels have been molding Youth into the community Leaders of tomorrow.

That is what we are all about.