Taranaki high school 'aggressive' as they fight for race equality in their school community
Media Story by Brianna McIlraith, Stuff.
New Plymouth Boys' High School student Robbie White won the 2019 national Race Unity Speech Awards in Auckland on Saturday. STUFF / Taranaki-Daily-News
A 15-year-old Pākehā boy is helping make an "aggressive" change in race equality at his Taranaki high school.
New Plymouth Boys' High School (NPBHS) student Robbie White won the Race Unity Speech competition in May and has begun to integrate race unity into school life with the support of teachers and students.
"It's realising as humans we are actually more equal than what we think and we don't need the boundaries and barriers of what race provides," he said. "Even though having that individuality is a really good thing, our lives don't need to be dictated by it."
The school currently has one period a week dedicated to learning social and life skills. It also added Māori performing arts into the curriculum with a kapa haka group that rehearses in class time and has a junior tikanga protocol course where students are taken from the maths and English class to learn about Māori history in Taranaki.
"That's what we've tried to look at as a school. It's not just something to talk about, this is something to act on," NPBHS director of culture Evan Davies said.
"We are trying to be aggressive in our pursuit of change."
Davies said the school was moving in the right direction following a hui with the police deputy commissioner Wallace Haumaha and a representative from the Baha'i community about integrating their own race unity values into the school.
"We've got a long way to go, but surely a willingness to acknowledge that we've got to do more is a good place to start," Davies said.
"And, yes, we need to do more for our Pasifika boys and increasing numbers of internationals, but we are getting there."
As a teacher he was proud to see Robbie and school mates leading the charge and making change, he said.
"In a school that's the greatest thing we can see as teachers is students realising that they're the ones not only coming up with ideas but they're the ones that make it happen.
"He's the one that's going to make this change in the society."
On Monday Robbie was officially presented a shield from police deputy commissioner Haumaha, who has previously praised Robbie of his use of te reo, for winning the speech competition, and a hair-raising haka was performed by fellow students for him.
"It was really special. To have the boys doing a haka towards me that was something I'd never forget in my life. It left me speechless," Robbie said.