Tena koutou katoa. Nga mihi nui atawhai.

‘It’s disappointing’; ‘it’s unsettling’; ‘it’s uncertain’. But, we’ve been here before and we got through it.

Our young people take their cues from the adults they interact with. If we, the adults, can show that, while this return to Alert Level 3 is not where we want to be, together, we can come through this again.

We need to create time and opportunities for our young people to express how they are feeling at the moment. And, while we may not have all (or any) answers to how this new ‘new’ normal might pan out, we can offer the reassurance that, as Siouxsie Wiles says, “being at home, in your family bubble, is the safest place to be right now.”

We, the adults, can offer our young people the hope that, whatever happens, ‘this too will pass’ and that, together, we will get through this again.

“This capacity for empathy leads to a genuine encounter – we have to progress toward this culture of encounter – in which heart speaks to heart…” Pope Francis