A great impact!
On todays blog Lydia (Programme Delivery Team Lead) shares some of her thoughts on the great impact that young people are having in the road safety space, all over Aotearoa.
During 2022 SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara students ran activities in their schools and communities all over Aotearoa. This means that thousands of young people got a chance to engage with positive road safety messages from their peers this year! How good!?
As a Delivery Lead I get to talk with so many rangatahi, from all sorts of different communities who care deeply about their community and mates. I get to see the small things young people do that make an impact, through to the longer term, larger impact that reaches over the years.
I have been with SADD since the start of 2019, and there are groups that I have personally seen making a steady impact for 4 solid years now. This means that students from their schools have been getting opportunities to think about the decisions they make on the roads for 4 straight years…this has to have a real impact.
Sometimes it can be hard to see the big impact you have when you are on the ground head down, working to run some events and campaigns in your school. As staff we get the absolute privilege of seeing the bigger picture, whether that's in our regions or nationwide, and trust me there is a nationwide impact being made.
One thing I love about the mahi that SADD/Katiaki o Ara does is that it is grassroots, on-the-ground, local change being made…But it’s also nationwide - it’s young people working together from all over the country to have a greater impact.
If I could encourage all you young people that will be involved with SADD in 2023 to do one thing, it’s attend all the SADD events you can get to, things like our workshops, conferences, road safety leadership days, etc. I don’t encourage you to do this just so we get numbers showing up! It’s so you get the opportunity to meet other young people making a difference and get a taste of that bigger picture change that happens when lots of young people jump on board for a great cause like road safety and keeping their mates safe. These events are key opportunities for you to see the wide impact you are having.
Young people’s highlights from various SADD events/workshops:
“Hanging out with like-minded students who allow me to get new ideas for my community.”
“The people. Being able to talk to the SADD staff, and the other NL’s is always great; it's just such a good vibe and we can all hold decent conversations with each other. It was also good to see people who did their own things, and had different ideas and perspectives.”
“Getting to collaborate with like-minded students”
“Collating ideas with everyone and having really good conversations”
Comments from young people after events about how they feel about the role they (and other young people) play in road safety:
“I think that we have more of an impact than we think we do”
“I feel like we can really start to make a bigger difference in our community's road safety”
“Very empowered, it was clear how much impact we can make as young people and young drivers.”
“Good and confident. I feel it made me feel like I have a larger voice than I think and how valuable our opinions can be as students”
“We can make a difference”
“I feel like we play a really important role in road safety, since we're the younger generation we have a different point of view on road safety issues than the older generation and I think it's really important for us to share our opinions and solutions”
Be encouraged that the work you have put in this year has made a difference. At Kaitiaki o Ara we work in the ‘prevention space’, and we cannot measure how many young people don’t die or get seriously injured, but we do know that hundreds of young people are getting interactive opportunities to think about talk about road safety each school term, and that is thanks to all you amazing rangatahi involved with SADD. You have a great impact!