There is an Issue in New Zealand in which kids are getting mixed up in “the gang life” drugs and violence in New Zealand society. I have chosen to explore this theme which is strongly portrayed in the films; The Dark Horse by James Napier Robertson, Boy By Taika Waititi and the books Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump and Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff.  

In the Film Boy, Boy is very heavily influenced by his father (Alamein)  Who he hasn’t seen since he was a toddler. Now at the age of 11, He wants to be everything his father is. Just as the school holidays begin Alamein Unexpectedly shows up at home accompanied by his two mates (his gang); Boy wants to get to know him. However what Boy doesn’t know about is that his father is about to bring drinking, Drugs and “Gang life” into his already fragile world. Furthermore, at the same time, his Nan goes away to a funeral so he is left to look after his cousins and his brother this causes him to have a conflict of interest; looking after family or following the “gang life”. And he chooses the latter. “Gang life” is a common ambition for many of Boy’s peers. For example Boy’s school enemy, Kingi’s brother Wants to join the “Crazy Horses” (Alamein’s gang) this is because Alamein turns the garage into a gang house and throws a “get together” in which they are invited. on the same night, Alamein offers Boy a sip of beer; “you want a sip?” (Alamein) “yip” (boy) Churr, 11 that’s pretty young for your first sip ay, Bro.” (Alamein). Following this Boy proceeds to get very intoxicated for an 11-year-old boy as he leaves his 4 younger cousins and his younger brother to fend for himself. This shows how there is a culture of acceptance for allowing children to become involved in this type of behavior.  Boy also gets drunk when he loses respect for his father after he runs his goat over.  this shows how his father lets him down and getting drunk is his way out at just 11 years old. Takia Waititi wants us to see that when children are influenced by Adults they change their priorities. For Boy, he influenced to change from caring for his Whanau (family) to trying to be like his father and fit in with his father’s gang.

In the book Once were warriors, the story follows a young Maori woman in North Auckland and her life in poverty and alcohol and violence. where kids don’t get the attention of care they deserve. In the life where both parents of a family with five kids are “on the dole” and most of the money gets spent on beer. Children are left to figure things out for themselves; like a younger sister taking her brother to the courthouse for his sentencing while their parents sleep through their hangovers from the night before. This book displays the way that some people are treating their kids and how the children are not supported with there school work from home because they will grow up, leave school, join a gang or go “on the dole” This book again, shows the theme that there are social issues in New Zealand with children turning to gangs as they have no support from their Whanau (family) for what they want to do in there life. This is because often the parents are violent alcoholics. “Beer and culture. Culture? Beer and Maori culture. It’s our lifeblood. we live for our beer”. This shows that for Maori’s living in South Auckland, all that matters is Beer. Beer is their culture, not looking out for their kids’ education, not feeding a family with the little money they have. Instead, that money gets spent on beer. This, in turn, causes the children to grow up either a fighter or a drinker or both and if they are neither, they get disregarded altogether. The fighters will enter the “gang life”, in the book they are referred to as “Brown Fist prospects” and then shy, small, skinny and weak will get left by the family for the child welfare to deal with. In the book one of the children wants to join a gang “… and there’s my Nig, who’s itching to join the Brown Fists”. While one of the other children in the family has been sent to boys home without the parents even turning up to his trial at the courthouse. overall the book supports the idea that the kids don’t have anyone to look to for help or any positive role models to follow after; and this is why they turn to the alcohol, gangs, and violence.

The next text I looked at was the film The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson. The film, set in Gisborne, is about a mental illness patient that is a former chess champion who tries to protect his brother’s son, Mana, from going into his father’s gang.  The film shows how the “gang life” is avoided if you have a goal to focus on and/or a person to help you to stay out of it. However, the film also shows how kids go straight into gangs and miss out on being someone else.

Mana’s father wants to get him into his gang on his 15th birthday, this is because he is dying and he wants Mana to get in before he dies. However, even through Genisis’s mental state of illness, he can see that this is not what is best for Mana. (Blood, one of the leaders says to mutt) “the boys all yours, harden him up, we ain’t patching no child” Mutt is a mean, tough, violent man. Mana gets beaten up and pissed on by the rest of the gang; he actually gets more or less, abused by the gang. Mana is also a child that has grown up around the “gang life” and is now getting his patch, with no one to help him stay out of this lifestyle he has to accept his fate and join the gang. Gen helps Mana get out of all of this with Chess. With Chess, Mana has something to focus on; something other than “getting the beers for the lads” or getting pissed on and abused by the rest of the gang. as we can see from the way Mana is treated, he is very involved in the life of his father and he has nothing positive to focus on.  

Although Mana has someone to help him get out of the gang life, there are many children in the same situation that are not as fortunate as he is. Children with parents that “want them in the gang” they have nowhere else to go and fall into the same loop as their fathers and their fathers before. Sometimes the kids themselves choose to take the gang life because of influence from friends and peers. James Napier Robertson wants us to see how influenced children are by their parents and how they can choose not to go down the road to a life in the gangs if only they have someone to support them with that.

My next text that shows how the gang life has affected a child and there has never been a positive for him but once there is he can focus on stuff outside the way he lived before. Wild Pork and Watercress tells the story of a troubled boy that cant fit in and is always getting himself in situations that the authorities are not keen. After going through many a boys homes and escaping Ricky finds himself with his Aunty and Uncle in rural New Zealand. Through this Ricky is supported and keep out of the life he once was in. however, during the text, there are many references that Ricky hasn’t forgotten that part of his life, with his father being an alcoholic and eventually handing him over to the authorities. “..nobody seemed to know where my father was living. He was never allowed in the house when he’d been drinking, and he just did more and more drinking until he couldn’t come home at all.” this Quote shows how Ricky’s life started off with a culture of alcoholism and a struggling family situation. This is another example of how a child is led into a downward spiral because of a caregiver’s fraying connection with that child. This caused Ricky to turn out to be a “bad egg” and getting into trouble and ‘gang life’ was an outlet for his struggle in his family life. Hector and Bella saved Ricky from going further down the track to a point where, just like Mana from the film the Dark Horse, he might be getting ‘patched’ into a gang.

These issues can only be solved if children are properly cared for when they are young, children that are sent round to the neighbors to ‘borrow some beer’ will be parents that are asking the same of their kids. The best thing we can do as a society and as a country is protected and care for the children of today so that the ‘gang life’ cycle is broken and their lives are improved. This issue only comes about because of the lack of wealth and care for life itself, this is because of little education which in turn comes from children having parents that aren’t well of either, this is why a child learns that this is a way of life. The best way to achieve this is by keeping kids in school and by education all New Zealanders without discrimination. This will cause less racism towards Maori and cause struggling Maoris to not give themselves an excuse turn to the ‘gang life’.

As we can see from all of the texts the issue of kids in New Zealand getting mixed up in ‘gang life’ is a serious issue. Children that are getting pulled into the loop of gangs, drug, alcohol, and poverty in some parts of New Zealand society. These texts all also show that there is a dark side to New Zealand urban and or rural life, but with a positive influence on a child; they can free themselves from this struggle and aim to be someone positive themselves. There is an influence on children, be it positive or negative; the children will become what they see is the person they want to be. In all the texts the young boys all want to become associated with a ‘gang life’. They all have different ways of dealing with this depending on who is shining for them in the dark tunnel of gang life.