The Howick Youth Council’s Youth Survey aims to answer pressing questions about young people in East Auckland.

“Over two years after the Howick Youth Survey was first conceived, I’m incredibly proud to see the finished product,” says youth council chair Ben Fraser.

With questions divided into five sections: school life, youth identity, mental wellbeing, community issues and young people’s futures — the youth survey is one of the most comprehensive surveys into the opinions of young people in Howick, Pakuranga, Botany and Ormiston.

“This project was first developed as a method of better understanding what the Howick Youth Council should be doing to serve the young people of East Auckland but has evolved into a powerful assessment of our youth community. This report provides insight into many aspects of how young people in East Auckland live, play and learn. This means it is relevant to many groups in our community, not just the Howick Youth Council,” Fraser says.

Five key insights:

• 57.4% of young people want more engagement with students from other schools.
• The mental health of young people significantly deteriorates as they grow older. The average score of an 18-year-old was 64% worse than a 13-year-old.
• Over half of young people feel comfortable expressing their identity in the community (55.7% of respondents).
• 80.8% of young people don’t feel confident to create change in their community.
• 37.5% of young people indicated they feel unprepared for adulthood.

Youth survey questions were developed in conjunction with best-practice consultant Devon Murphy-Davids and a professional from the Mental Health Foundation. A draft of the Youth Survey was also reviewed by youth worker and Howick Local Board member Mike Turinsky.

The youth council would like to thank local secondary schools in helping connect us with students during our stages of data collection. In total, the youth council received 633 respondents from 13 local schools.

The survey findings were unveiled at the Howick Youth Council’s Principals Breakfast which also saw the presentation of the youth council’s 2020 project work programme. This event saw youth council members outlining their events and their project aspirations for the year.

In attendance were principals from local secondary schools, as well as Howick Local Board chairperson Adele White, Local Board Members, Councillor Sharon Stewart, Councillor Paul Young, and MPs representing the Botany and Pakuranga electorates.

Of the youth council’s 2020 work programme, Chairperson White had a few remarks: “As a local board, we are exceptionally proud of and value our partnership which we have with the youth council and we know too that the partnerships built with our secondary schools are hugely significant for youth.”

­­The Youth Survey report was an initiative of, and produced by, the Howick Youth Council in its entirety. This means its findings are not endorsed by the research faculties of Auckland Council, and should not be considered a report commissioned by the Howick Local Board.

About HYC

The Howick Youth Council is a collective of passionate young individuals striving to make Howick, Botany, Ormiston, and Pakuranga a more attractive and vibrant place for its young people. With 32 members in 2020, HYC is one of the largest youth voice groups operating in New Zealand.

We operate under the Howick Local Board with an aim to connect, develop and represent young people in the East Auckland area through running a variety of events and ensuring youth voices are heard in the decisions that shape our city. The Howick Youth Council is part of the Auckland Youth Voice Network (AYVN), a network of the 14 youth voice groups in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

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