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Raising kids in New Zealand

Raising kids in New Zealand

Old Oct 29th 2013, 10:18 pm
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Default Raising kids in New Zealand

People come to New Zealand for a variety of reasons. But one of the most enduring is New Zealand is viewed as providing a better environment to bring your children up in.

Is that the case in your experience? What differences have you noticed?
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 3:13 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

when I got hear with my two teenage boys, their eyes were on stalks with all the tall, slim teenage girls they were meeting at school.
Made a change from all the fat pigs with guts hanging out, belly button rings and slag tags they were used to seeing in the UK
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 4:52 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

it's a bit more 'innocent' (best word i can find), maybe delays going into adulthood a bit. Kids can be kids longer and there seems to be more focus on healthier aspects of life such as sport. Far less exposure to rampant commercialism and celebrity worship.

But a lot will come down to where you live too, Big different living in a smaller, affluent leafy town in SE England (probably similar to NZ) than inner city areas, or poorer parts of Birmingham/Hull, many parts of the North.

Maybe another social aspect is that kids have hope and aspirations in NZ - I think that is removed from many in poorer parts of the UK by their already bigoted/disillusioned parents.
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 9:42 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Couple of interesting articles Prosperity index and scaremongering nonsense from the Daily Wail here
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 12:56 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by Northern Henry
Couple of interesting articles Prosperity index and scaremongering nonsense from the Daily Wail here
well the prosperity index is pretty much bunk - look at the education rankings - NZ 1st? - yeah right...........for example, where do they get 15:1 ratio for students to staff? Plus NZ universities are piss-poor, that comes from several friends who attended them, never mind any reasonable ranking of world institutions.

Then how does anyone relate the Social Capital and Personal Freedom indicies to those that are truly concerned with Prosperity, as most people view it. Just because my neighbours all hug trees, love animals (and thereby give to charity and volunteer at the local animal rescue centre) does not necessarily mean my country prospers or its people are prosperous.

To be honest NZ comes out well on the stuff that is either not very much use or the education table, which IMO is flawed, and it does relatively badly on the more important indicies, such as Health, Economic well being, etc

/bah humbug, again/
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 1:23 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by lardyl
well the prosperity index is pretty much bunk - look at the education rankings - NZ 1st? - yeah right...........for example, where do they get 15:1 ratio for students to staff? Plus NZ universities are piss-poor, that comes from several friends who attended them, never mind any reasonable ranking of world institutions
NZ has excellent universities, but only 2 of them are genuine. Auckland and Otago. The rest are imposters, ex polytechnics and vocational schools.

As I have said many times before though. NZ graduates have no trouble getting work anywhere in the world and are usually very successful.
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 6:40 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

I think perception can be a bit skewed for Uk origin immigrants as most people get a 'leg up' the social ladder when they emigrate. I know I live in much nicer areas here than we could afford in the UK. This means my kids attend better resourced, less crowded schools, we live in a more peaceful, spacious area with better facilities (parks, pools, etc), and life is generally freer and easier as a result of this. My teen finds the Kiwis she mixes with are less wordly, more naive, more sporty-outdoorsy, more hobby-orientated, more comfortble in school environment, happier to mix with a range of ages including adults, tend to be less aware of other cultural values and norms, and are less self-conscious than her British pals. She misses her quirky UK pals heaps, but she missed her Kiwi pals when we were there too. not sure how generalisable her observations are as she's comparing private school kids with UK rural comp.
I feel happy we have given the kids a more secure uni future here, and a safe little harbour in the world they can always return to. If I had my time again we would have come for a year or two and then gone back, not because there's anything wrong with NZ, just because they don't have a very secure place in their extended family as a result of our move- they don't have all those shared family experiences to draw on and take for granted- and a lot of their experience of extended family has involved painful goodbyes, etc. I worry about the longer term effect of this and I wonder sometimes whether emigration is a somewhat emotionally blunting experience for kids. On the other hand, I'm possibly just projecting my own feelings!
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 10:50 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by lardyl
well the prosperity index is pretty much bunk - look at the education rankings - NZ 1st? - yeah right...........for example, where do they get 15:1 ratio for students to staff? Plus NZ universities are piss-poor, that comes from several friends who attended them, never mind any reasonable ranking of world institutions.
If you don't agree with the findings of the report, then you can't make assertions that negate the findings by merely stating some paltry anecdotal evidence about several friends. Seems to me that you are suffering "confirmation bias" - in other words, no matter what you read, you will only acknowledge the accuracy of the information if it agrees with your own opinion. It is human nature to do this, but we are supposed to recognise that we are doing it. Disagree by all means, but what evidence have you got for your opinion that is based on supportable evidence? You say that the information in education table is flawed in your opinion - and don't say why.

By the way, I have no opinion on this index. I have enjoyed living in both the UK and NZ. I am a product of the NZ education system and have worked in both the NZ and UK education systems - so I acknowledge my bias/experience.
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 11:28 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by sr71
it's a bit more 'innocent' (best word i can find), maybe delays going into adulthood a bit. Kids can be kids longer and there seems to be more focus on healthier aspects of life such as sport. Far less exposure to rampant commercialism and celebrity worship.
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 11:37 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by Justcol
when I got hear with my two teenage boys, their eyes were on stalks with all the tall, slim teenage girls they were meeting at school.
Made a change from all the fat pigs with guts hanging out, belly button rings and slag tags they were used to seeing in the UK
Classic. Have to say I find the Kiwi women pleasing to the eye in general, they seem on average much taller than British girls. Just a pity when some of them open their mouths .

But yes, bet your two sons are loving it! Have they dated many kiwi girls? Not that they'd be honest or anything....
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Old Oct 30th 2013, 11:50 pm
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by davros1984
Classic. Have to say I find the Kiwi women pleasing to the eye in general, they seem on average much taller than British girls. Just a pity when some of them open their mouths
It has been pointed out by many people here in the UK that I swear a lot. I drop swear bombs randomly. A UK policeman told me it was a kiwi trait he had noticed but that he would overlook it because it "didn't sound as bad" in my accent. Must say, it's been a bit of an achillies heel as far as teaching goes :-(
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Old Oct 31st 2013, 12:05 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by trafford
Must say, it's been a bit of an achillies heel as far as teaching goes :-(
Oh shit yeah!
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Old Oct 31st 2013, 12:15 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by davros1984
Oh shit yeah!
that was a saying the relief teacher constantly used on term 2 for my daughters class. I was not impressed
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Old Oct 31st 2013, 12:16 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

must say the swearing can be a bit much. going to be interesting when the In Laws come over next year.
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Old Oct 31st 2013, 5:38 am
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Default Re: Raising kids in New Zealand

Originally Posted by sr71
NZ has excellent universities, but only 2 of them are genuine. Auckland and Otago. The rest are imposters, ex polytechnics and vocational schools.
.
What tripe. Canterbury University - founded in 1873. Victoria - founded 1897. Neither have the background you ascribe to them and both are very well respected academic institutions
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