“I will miss how fun it was.” (Year 5 student)

It is funny how the simple words of a 10 year old can cut through to the heart of an issue. For all of us who can still remember school (well I guess at 25 years on it is an increasing challenge) those moments of fun are carried with us like a torch through life.

One boring lunchtime I remember being very puzzled when one of my friends decided to swallow a copperhead lizard. The puzzlement grew to amusement, which grew to hilarity as the process of catching and “trying” to enact his claim left us all sprawled in laughter on the floor. Those moments are rare and yet despite its absurd nature, the lizardgate affair has often brought a smile to my face decades later.

It is with deep disappointment that I see the current decision to abandon the Rock Eisteddfod and the smiles it will take from students across the State. It is clear in talking to many students that not only is this event a highlight in the school calendar, it is something that brings joy, challenge, excitement and friendship for years to come.

It is also a global event... the Rock Eisteddfod website says that last year more than 1 million young people performed in the event - from Belfast to Albany, Johannesburg to Thursday Island, Dresden to Melbourne, Aberdeen to Auckland and everywhere in between. The event is described as being a celebration of youth expression, creativity, hope, persistence, health and talent. It is indeed.

I was touched by one particular email from a former Northern Beaches school captain. She wrote:

“The Rock Eisteddfod is one of the very few education initiatives that has the ability to bring together not only the pupils within a school but also whole schools across the state and then within the entire nation. The amount of energy that every single one of the students and teachers, who took part, have when the Rock Eisteddfod takes place is unimaginable and never in my life have I seen so many smiles and laughs that are shared between young people from so many different areas of life.”

So why will Australian students now miss out? Well it appears some sponsorship support has fallen over and State Governments across the country have declined to make up the shortfall, with NSW only offering $150,000 (out of a $53 billion budget) under pressure. So that’s it. Too hard, sorry kids, bad luck. Well I say bah humbug to that. If the NSW Government won’t take the leadership to get this event back I say to everyone in our schools who care – let’s mobilise and show all the people who are supposed to represent us that “youth matter”. 

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