[ldlim]

In the last 2 weeks there have been 4 school shootings in the US. It is coming to be a horrific epidemic. The kids are getting younger and the amount of violence in schools is getting greater. I read a report of an 11yo taking a gun to school, killing 2 teachers and 3 students then himself. If we don’t relocate to NZ by the time our 3yo is ready for school I will be homeschooling.

I am interested in hearing how the NZ school system fairs with violence. I did a search and I cannot find any reported shootings in NZ schools. The only teen associated violence (disobedience) I am finding is racers and gangs (which pale in comparison to the violence of US gangs imo).

[Wonderbob]

The only people who can buy handguns legally in NZ are the Police and members of authorized gun clubs (who must keep them locked in an approved gun safe at home, otherwise they lose their licences), so no we don't do school shootings here thank god. That's not to say schools don't have to deal with other problems like bullying, drug use etc like all western countries, but by US standards the use of "deadly force" in schools is non-existant, so yes NZ is a safer place, I reckon, no question. My two kids, 6 + 8 walk to school with other kids (10 yr olds), so if that gives you any idea of the perceived threat to their safety (i.e very low). It's a very family friendly country.

cheers, Bob

[lockstock]

I am finding is racers and gangs (which pale in comparison to the violence of US gangs imo).


As long as you don't think they pale into insignificance. Please don't underestimate the gang culture here.

[NZ Hopeful]

As long as you don't think they pale into insignificance. Please don't underestimate the gang culture here.

Have you had a bad experience? You have me worried now :roll

[willsken]

The whole question of gang culture is going to depend hugely on where you live and which school they go to. It will be entirely possible for your children to go through their school life having no contact with gangs at all. :nice1

[lockstock]

I would love to know the criteria by which one would have to select a place to live to have 'no' contact with gangs at all.

Having met someone who is partially paralysed by being stabbed by a gang member I suppose you could say I have had a bad experience. I see evidence of gang culture every day, tagging, 'colours', warnings of my dogs being stolen to order. I am trying very hard not to let my awareness turn into fear.

[willsken]

I was talking about in school.

[lockstock]

So was I

[willsken]

I can think of many schools just here in Hawke's Bay that wouldn't have problems with gangs. The school I teach at is a middle of the road school and has kids in it associated to gang culture and they don't cause problems for other kids. There are many other schools out there that just wouldn't have the kids there in the first place due to catchment etc.

[lockstock]

That's my point - what is the makeup of catchment areas where there is no evidence of gang culture? Back to the criteria question. How to avoid being in areas with gang connections?

[willsken]

Lockstock that's a question that can only be answered by doing research before you move somewhere. I'm not going to give my opinion on an open forum. I just know schools like these exist. :)

[ldlim]

I am a bit disturbed by this. From what I have been able to find most gang activity in NZ is based around petty theft. Am I wrong? I have no disillusions of NZ being a problem-free wonderland.

From all the materials I have at hand it seems to be a huge improvement for myself and my children. Although I am concerned for my husband because he is Chinese and I hear mixed messages about racism and etc against people of Asian decent. But thats a whole diff story.

I am sold on us moving and am ready to go today. Hubby is more practical and is weighing the pros and cons.

Thanks for all the responses, think I will have to do more research on NZ crime rates by location.

[lockstock]

Willsken, I'm not challenging you personally. I'm asking hypothetical (?) questions because I think it has huge importance on life in New Zealand. I love it here - warts and all. They're much nicer than UK warts.


I had no idea before we came of the extent of the situation (which is not necessarily a problem) but it opens a whole can of worms about researching the areas to avoid. What social groups do these gangs draw on? Do we therefore avoid those social groups in order to avoid the problem? And what will we miss out on if we steer clear of these social groups? Gets very uncomfortable when one sets it out like that.

[willsken]

I am a bit disturbed by this. From what I have been able to find most gang activity in NZ is based around petty theft. Am I wrong? I have no disillusions of NZ being a problem-free wonderland.


Please don't be. IMO you are right in what you have found out. There are gang issues over here but it doesn't seem to impact on peoples general day to day lives. That's not to say you don't get some instances of things happening, but you'd get that wherever in the world you chose to live.

There was a thread on this a while ago. Have a read.

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12639&highlight=exposed

[willsken]

Willsken, I'm not challenging you personally. I'm asking hypothetical (?) questions because I think it has huge importance on life in New Zealand. I love it here - warts and all. They're much nicer than UK warts.


I had no idea before we came of the extent of the situation (which is not necessarily a problem) but it opens a whole can of worms about researching the areas to avoid. What social groups do these gangs draw on? Do we therefore avoid those social groups in order to avoid the problem? And what will we miss out on if we steer clear of these social groups? Gets very uncomfortable when one sets it out like that.

I agree about it being far more of a problem that I had realised before we came out. I'm just trying to say that there will be a lot of areas that have absolutely nothing to do with gangs. I think if you are coming across the world to find a better life for your family, there is no shame in being very choosy about where to settle.

I agree to, that NZ warts are much more palatable than the UK ones. :D (That sounds quite yucky :roll )

[Sam B]

No evidence so far of any gang culture in either of my children's schools in Cambridge. They feel very safe indeed. I think you can pick and choose areas and schools and find very safe feeling schools.

[akp713]

Just wanted to add my two cents here about the general premise of the question, the violence in US schools. Despite the media hype violence in US schools has actually been going down for a decade now, the Columbine style masacres are the abberation to the general trend and really when you think about the size of the US they are quite rare.

Now, to address violence in NZ schools I can only go by anecdotal evidence, that is what I hear from my friends who are teachers in certain Auckland neighbourhoods. They say that violence in NZ schools is understated, that they actually see a lot of fights and gang-related bravado. But again it depends entirely on the neighbourhood and school. Generally if you have a school with a decile 1 or 2 rating you face a higher risk of violence along with all the other issues than a school ranked decile 7 or 8 would. If you want neighbourhood descriptions and census figures you can get those online, even wikipedia has a description of most Auckland suburbs.

In general NZ has a much, much lower murder rate than the US but significantly higher rates of assault, burglary, and especially auto theft, sometimes rates 10 times higher than US cities like NYC, depending on the suburb. So the lack of guns does decrease the murder rate, but the image of NZ as significantly safer than the US is false.