(CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Oh. Oh. Hello, Kiwis. I'm Paddy Gower and I have got issues. On this show we investigate issues big and small that are important to all of us. Tonight ` bullying is exploding in our schools and there's one major thing that is driving it. I start my investigation by meeting a child who got a vicious beating. And Karen meets up with a man who's fed up with people bagsing car parks by standing in them. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (APPLAUSE) Tonight my issue is with bullying, and why our kids are beating the absolute crap out of each other nearly every day in our schools. And it is getting worse ` just look at these stats. 10 years ago, the cops were called to our schools 500 times in a year to deal with violence. It has gone up and up ever since. Last year it was 800 times, and this year it's heading for 1000 ` double. Now, when I was at school, the cops never, ever came to school for violence. It would have been the biggest story in Taranaki if they ever did. Now it is happening 1000 times a year. And a warning ` we are about to show you some terrible violence. What's changed? Well, we all know it's these damned things. And that means my issue is also with these smartphones, because every single one of these beatings that you're seeing now is filmed, shared and liked. What is going on with our kids? What has made them such bullies? What's done this to them? Earlier this year, I asked people to send in some examples and I was inundated with what you see now. We got these from all over the country, from every sort of school, from parents, kids and from teachers. This could happen to any kid any day. This last beating that you're watching now happened in an intermediate school. Those are intermediate age children there. We are going to meet the victim, and we're gonna to go to that school tonight and I'm sure that every New Zealander will be shocked by that level of violence. I'm calling this our bullying epidemic. And this is an issue for all of us. Tonight, I'm joined by child psychologist Dr Emma Woodward to help us delve into this issue. As always, Karen O'Leary is here as our community investigator. And our newsdeskers, Eli Matthewson and Courtney Dawson are here as well. (APPLAUSE) OK, Emma, when you saw that last video or those videos, you know, what did you think as a` as a mother and as a psychologist? - Well, as a parent, it's both terrifying and shocking. But as a psychologist, I'm not actually that surprised. And I think we need to understand that by the time our kids are hurting each other in this way, so many other things have gone wrong. So whilst people do need to be held accountable for their individual actions, we also need to dig deeper to find out why it's happening in the first place. Because ultimately, at intermediate age, they're still kids. - And those figures showed that bullying is getting worse and they probably are only the tip of the iceberg. Is it really getting worse on a global scale? - Well, the statistics say yes, it is. You know, global research is saying it's getting worse in New Zealand compared to other countries. So that means that a problem that's specific to New Zealand and we need to get to the bottom of what's going on. - Well, interestingly, when I was at` in form two at intermediate, I was actually really badly bullied and my response to that was to then become a bully in third form. And I'm pretty sure that's probably not what you would recommend doing. (LAUGHTER) Yes, no. - But understandable. - And tonight, we're gonna go back to where we saw that last shocking video. It's Napier Intermediate and that's where that young child was so badly bullied that she actually had to leave the school. You'll see some more of that confronting video. And the family wanted us to show this to you so that everyone can see just how serious this issue is. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Tell us about what happened that day after school. - I feel like I didn't really see it coming. I just started running and then... she just started hitting me and I got knocked out afterwards. - This 11-year-old girl was beaten up at her intermediate school in March. - We were just, like, just by the gate. And she was holding me there the whole time and started punching me with the other hand and kept punching me about ten times in the head and kicked me in the head about three times when I was on the ground. And then tried to kick my legs and stuff when she was walking away. And then... someone that was holding the camera, she was saying, 'I think I got it. I think I got it.' And, like, laughing behind the camera. (KIDS LAUGH, TALK INDISTINCTLY) - (STUDENT SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) - So, they really wanted to record it? - Yeah. They really wanted to. - Why was that? - I think she just wanted to show everybody. - Don't fucking talk shit, (BLEEP). (KIDS SCREAM, YELL) - (GIRL LAUGHS) (KIDS YELL, LAUGH) - ... in front of the whole school. (LOUD, INDISTINCT CHATTER) Ohhh! - Is she breathing? - And how quickly did it get spread? - Very quickly. The day it happened, when I got home, it got sent to me. - And how many people do you think have seen the video of you getting a beating? - A lot. A lot. It's been on, like, New Zealand Fights. It's been on, like, clubs and stuff. - These clubs are social media accounts where people share and watch fight videos. What have they spread it on? - All apps. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok... And, like, there's things that they say about me. Like, there's heaps of things that they do and they, like, edit the video, making fun of me and stuff. (VIDEO PLAYS ON LAPTOP) - That's you. - That's me right there. It gets sent to me, like, every week. - Is it annoying getting this sent to you again and again? - Yes, very much so. I've told a couple people to go away when they do, but... It's just what happens, I guess. - You can't stop it. - Yeah. I can't. - Bullying is no longer confined to school. It follows her home. (VIDEO PLAYS, STOPS) - OK, so someone's made that about you. Leave it on that for a second. - Yup. - Read that out to me. - READS: 'Be for real. Nobody likes you. No wonder why you got a hiding.' - And... and that's just someone just... - Yeah. - And what does that say? - READS: 'I'll (BLEEP) you up.' - Parents never used to see their kids being bullied, but with fights being filmed and shared, that's all changed. What did you think when you heard about what had happened? - A little bit of disbelief. But I think my first emotion was worried about her, and then anger. Because it was just so upsetting. I mean, I just started crying, pretty much. It was just` yeah. Really hard watch. A really hard watch. - Sort of freak you out that were, sort of, all, sort of, standing around, kinda... - It didn't surprise me because if that's what` that's what it is with social media now. The first thing people do, whether it's negative or positive or bad or good, is pull out their phone and video it. - What do you think of these online fight clubs where that video has been sent and kids just watch fights? - It should just be banned instantly, shouldn't it? I mean, anything that goes up on the Internet that's like that or negative, especially with under-age children, should be instantly taken down. But the bullying, it just` there has to be consequences and there doesn't seem to be any. And that's why the kids continue. - She's taken her daughter out of the school and has enrolled her somewhere else. And are you scared that this will happen to you again? - I know it will happen to me again. Cos there are a lot of girls that want to beat me up more. (APPLAUSE) - So, Paddy, what we're seeing here is the impact of an ongoing digital footprint. That one event now exists permanently online, which leads to re-traumatisation. But the benefit for bullies is they get continuous validation and ongoing notoriety, which is a big driver behind bullying behaviour. - What did you think, Karen, when you saw that video? - Oh, it's just` it's shocking. I can't, you know, I can't even fathom it. And obviously, you know, back in my day, we didn't have the phones. It was a lot harder. You had to put a lot more effort into bullying and sharing it around. So it's atrocious. - Well, later on, I'm gonna go to that school and meet some parents and talk to the principal and some students, actually. But first, Karen, you've been out there in the community doing some mahi of your own. - Always. Always. Now, Paddy, I'm gonna start with a question for you ` do you ever bags things? - Uh, yes. I bags the front seat of the car on long trips. - Yep. Yep. - (CHUCKLES) I bagsed this desk. - I know. I tried to sit there. - It gave me my own show. - Yeah. I've tried to sit there and they've said I'm not allowed to because you bagsed it. - Yeah. I've bagsed it. Yeah. - OK. What about this, then? Would you bags a car park by standing in there? - What? Bags it for someone` - For the car that you're in, you get out, stand in the car park so no one else can get past you. You just stand there like this. - Absolutely not. That would be un-Kiwi. You've gotta get your own park. - Well... - You can't get out of the car. - Well, I can see you've got an issue with it and so does my best friend Jayden down in Mount Maunganui. Here he is. (UPBEAT ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) So we're here in delightful, polite, friendly and courteous Mount Maunganui with my new best friend, Jayden. Jayden, I hear you've got a bit of an issue. Tell me; what is your issue? - My issue, Karen, is bagsing car parks. - Right. - That's when... (INDICATOR TICKS) A car pulls out of a car park before the next car can pull in. Someone stands in the car park and holds it for` for a friend. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (LAUGHTER) - How does that make you feel? - Pretty upset, Karen. Especially if you want that car park. And there's a person standing there. Car parks are for cars. - Not for people to stand in. - Not for people to stand in. Yeah. (DRAMATIC CLASSICAL MUSIC) (LAUGHTER) - Do you think it's slightly selfish? - Yeah. Yeah. I would think it's a bit selfish. - So obviously, you know, if you're bagsing a car park, you need to have someone else in your car. Is it because you don't actually, like, have a partner or something that means you can't actually do it and that makes you feel bummed out? - Oh. No, I'd say if I was going to the beach, I'd have a few mates in the car. I'd be able to get one of them to do it. - Friends? - Yeah. - But not a partner. - No, I do have a partner, but I don't think she'd be up for bagsing a car park. - Cos she's got morals. - Cos she's got morals. Yeah. My mates would do it in a heartbeat. They'd be in the car park. - Would they? - Yeah. - Have you thought about getting better mates? - Yeah. No. Uh... (CHUCKLES) Maybe I should look into it. (TENSE MUSIC) How do we fix it? - Yeah. Well, how do we fix it? - I don't know. - Yeah, well` Well, I'm gonna find out. - Perfect. - OK, great. The logical thing to do would be to talk to the people who set the rules about this. It's a pretty simple question; can you bags a car park in Mount Maunganui by standing in it? I asked the New Zealand police to see if it was allowed and they said it wasn't a police issue and to talk to the Tauranga council. So I asked Tauranga council, and they said it was a police issue. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) So I went national and I asked Waka Kotahi to see if there was a rule that fits all of Aotearoa. But they said they don't set the rules for local parking, so I should ask the council or the police! So I went even higher up and contacted the Ministry of Transport, Michael Wood. And wouldn't you know it? They didn't want to touch the issue either. Everyone's saying, 'Bags not'. Why? I thought this would be easy. (SIGHS) Let's see what other Mount Maunganuians think. (UPBEAT JAZZY MUSIC) Do you think it's OK to bags a car park by just standing in it? - No. - Nah. Probably not. No. - I don't think it's OK, cos you could` it's quite unsafe. And someone coming in could, like, not see the person and, like, hit the person. - Oh, I love to do that. - Do you? So you're a bagser? - (LAUGHS) - It depends how far away the car is. If it's just, like... What do you reckon? 10 seconds away, probably OK. - Do you drive a car? - Drive a car. - You drive a car? OK, so when you're driving, do you think it's OK to bags a car park by standing in it? - Chur. - Chur? (LAUGHTER) Important things are often hard and complicated, but I'm gonna take on this burden for my best friend, Jayden. I'm gonna find out definitively whether bagsing a car park is right or wrong. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (APPLAUSE) - You know what? I actually support bagsing carparks. I've got someone standing in Mike McRoberts carpark right now. (LAUGHTER) And I bussed here, so... - Yeah. I know. He's been sending quite mean messages to me on my phone all morning. - OK. Well, Mike McRoberts aside, I mean, it seemed to me from what I found out that it's a case of no accountability, no responsibility. So I had to change tack and I decided, you know, I've just gotta head right to the top. - And where is the top? - Well, it's the t` (STAMMERS) The top, top. The real` - You mean, like, heaven? - If that's what you believe in. (LAUGHTER) - All right. Coming up ` what are the rules about bagsing car parks and who makes them? Karen tracks down the answers. And I head to the school where that bullying happened to find out if anything has changed. (APPLAUSE) At Bunnings, we've got what you need to keep warm outdoors this winter. Outdoor heating makes a massive difference to entertaining. Kiwis, you know, we're made to be outside. You want to be warm, you want to be out there. Kindling Box just twelve dollars ninety eight. Fiammetta Outdoor Patio Heater only one hundred and seventy nine dollars. Jumbuck Pine Firewood Blocks just twelve dollars ninety eight. Where you find a competitor's lower price on the same stocked item, we'll beat it by 15 percent. BUNNINGS WAREHOUSE Lowest Prices are just the beginning. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Nau mai, hoki mai. Now, I'm about to visit the school where that terrible bullying happened. But right now, you know that I love news, and you know that I love our news desk. Eli and Courtney, what have you got for me this week? - Oh, that's so nice, Paddy. Well, we like you as a friend. - PADDY: Aw... - And here is this week's New Zealand Has Issues. (APPLAUSE) - Well, election season is well and truly here and our politicians are out and about trying to impress people. - And Chris Luxon has proved he is really down with the kids. (SCATTERED LAUGHTER) - La, la, la. La, la, la, la la! (LAUGHTER) - Yeah, he struggled with that dance, actually, because he refuses to jump to the left. - Honestly, it would be less embarrassing if he just pulled one of their ponytails. - ACT's David Seymour couldn't be outdone, though. Here's how he entered his party conference at SkyCity on Saturday. (LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS) - Putting on a show for the ACT Party faithful. - The council put bike lanes everywhere. There's nowhere to park. - Oh, wouldn't have picked ACT to start their party conference with a ram-raid, but here we are! It's Fast and Furious Epsom drift. - It says he's got a Suzuki Swift. I guess he's really going for that basic bitch vote. The only thing he's missing is a Starbucks drink and a Les Mills sticker. - You know, nothing says sensible monetary policy like hosting a conference at a casino. Let's put KiwiBuild on black! - They filled a huge theatre, which is impressive, considering it was` - 600 tickets at $50 bucks a pop. - Well, it did surprise me, I must say. Normally political parties don't charge for this kind of occasion. - To be fair, they didn't actually have to pay $50. But the other option was labelled koha, and they didn't understand what that meant. - This isn't new, anyway. Seymour actually charged $10 for tickets to his 21st, and he made $20. - Oh, boy. But despite the ticket price, not everyone enjoyed the show. - Though the speeches went on a little too long for some, ACT MP Damien Smith snapped snoozing. - Well, of course he's falling asleep. The ACT party hate being woke. - I don't blame him, though. White noise does make you sleepy. - That's true. But of course, the big news this week is the King's Honours list. Congratulations to Dame Jacinda Ardern. Of course, Chris Hipkins will be taking over the title of Dame in a few years when she gets bored of it. - If you ask me, Dame seems kind of a downgrade from Auntie, but... - PADDY: Yeah. That's right. - A lot of Kiwis were surprised to see Queen Camilla on the list as an additional member of the Order of New Zealand. But, you know, she actually has done a lot for this country. - PADDY: Oh, really? - She has. Here she is putting the finishing touches on that giant L&P bottle. - What a hero. Here she is, rebuilding Napier in an art deco style. - Wow, impressive. And here she is recording the backing vocals for Royals by Lorde. - And here she is winning the NRL with the Warriors this season. Go, the boys! Hey-hey! I'm just kidding. That will never happen. - Absolutely right. Back to you, Dame Patrick Gower. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Fake news. Absolute fake news. Camilla has never done anything for us. Absolutely nothing. (LAUGHTER) All right. Time to turn now back to the` I won't bully her, but time to turn back to the main issue of the night, which is bullying. Earlier, we met a child who had been bullied. And now I'm heading to her school to meet the principal and some of her schoolmates. (BIRD SONG) (SOMBRE MUSIC) Thanks for having us in your school. - Pleasure. - And... it was hard for you as a principal that there was violence here like we saw? - Yeah. I mean... My fourth week at school as the new principal of the school to suddenly see that on video... And, yeah. Oh, it was gutting. - And how did you deal with it? - So the first priority was to look after the young student, talk to the mum and make sure that they were OK. And then for the attacker, I made that decision to suspend her from school. And then the board went through the process, then eventually excluded her from school. - Yeah. So something that struck me, you know` it happened right here. - Yep. - And something that struck me was that everybody had their phones out. - And that's the disappointing side of it all. And I spoke to some of the students afterwards and I said, 'Why the phone?' And... it was just that that natural reaction, cos they don't know what to do in that situation. And I said, 'Well, why didn't somebody say, like, "Stop it!" or shout or scream or... you know?' And one of the students said back to me` she goes, 'I never even thought of that.' 'The first thing I thought of was just to grab my phone and film it.' - In the library, I meet a group of students to find out what they thought of the attack. You know, there was a really bad, violent incident here, which is why I'm here. Did it spread quickly through your phones? - Yeah. - Yes, definitely. On the chat with my friends, someone sent the video and... Um, and... you know. It wasn't very good. - Yeah, I know people that saw it that are out of the school. - Like people in New Zealand. - You know, do you think phones make the fights worse? - Mm. They do. Yeah, they would. - Why is that? - If you know you're being recorded, you'd want to do` you'd want to exaggerate what you're doing, right? For example... Fight worse, you know? Hit harder, that sort of thing. If you know you're gonna be on video, you want to humiliate your target as much as possible. And I think that's one of the reasons why people do. - This school has banned phones during class time. But of course, as soon as the bell goes, they get them back again. So, do you think it's good that you can't use your phones in school, guys? Or is it annoying? What's the... ? - I reckon it's better that we don't use phones. Yeah. - If we could use our phones, no one would be playing with each other or actually interacting with other students. We'd just all be face glued to the screen. - I'm kind of sad I have a phone because I just feel like... I need to be who what other people want me to be. But then if I didn't have a phone, I could just be myself. And that's why I just think nobody should really have phones in school cos... just, like, the exact same reason. - Why does your phone make you feel like that? - Just cos of social media and how everybody, like... has things that you don't have and you really want them. Do you get what I mean? Like... - I totally get what you mean. Yeah. Yeah. This school is trying to help students with the online world by running a cyber safety week. - All right. What about some things you can do yourself? What can you do when you are being cyberbullied? Riley? - Block them. - You can block them. - We talked about how we had that massive fight outside of the classroom here, and we talked a little bit about how it made our victim feel that that's on the Internet now forever. She'll, you know` She'll never` it'll never go away. It's always gonna be there for her. And we talked about how it would have made you guys feel. Would it be nice? No, it wouldn't, eh? (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) - And have you, you know, have you tried to get it taken down? - Yeah. So, one of the things I tried was getting hold of Netsafe, but you need everybody's users name. So... You know. 400 students at our school. And the students are certainly not gonna give me their usernames for their Snapchats and social media sites. So it's` it's impossible to take it down, you know? - And as a person, how have you taken... the bullying incident? - As a school, or as a... ? - As a person. - As a person. Personally, it affected me, you know? Because it was one of our students and it happened at our school and... I felt ashamed. Even though it wasn't me. But I felt ashamed. That it happened at... I suppose you want to say on my watch. It was hurtful. - You felt ashamed. - Yeah. (APPLAUSE) - Oh, Paddy, I was really struck by the language those kids were using about bullying and phones, but you could see how uncomfortable they looked as they were talking about it, as they knew it was wrong. But it is such a big part of their reality. - Yeah. I was amazed talking to them cos it just felt like they could talk for hours and hours with a great level of expertise about what was going on. They were actual experts. - And that actually gives me quite a lot of hope because they're able to articulate what the issue is. And that's the first step, being able` to be able to change things, to handle it. And now it's our job as the adults to step in and help them to navigate the world they actually live in. - Hey, Paddy? - Yes. - Now, don't want to bully you, but I'm just looking at the clock. We need to do the next segment of the show. - Well, I feel very attacked, but... (LAUGHTER) as always, I'm ready to cave in to peer pressure because it's time for this week's No Issues. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Yes, there is stuff out there that I have no issue with, and tonight I have no issues with people jumping off State Highway 2 and taking Snodgrass Road. Yes, this gets these locals on to the back roads and into Tauranga a teeny bit quicker. Western Bay of Plenty District Councillor Don Thwaites does have an issue with it. These people get called 'rat-runners', but Don reckons they are actually lower than rats and it's unfair to rats to call them that. He says it's not rat-running, it's pushing in and they wouldn't do it in the supermarket queue. Well, hang on, Don. You reckon rats behave better, but rats don't have to get into Tauranga every damn day to get to work. Now, it's some of the worst traffic in the country. A 22km trip can take up to two hours. There's roadworks and road cones in the way, but this shortcut can take 15 minutes off the trip. Heavy trucks must not be allowed to do this, but for ordinary punters, in my view, it is their birthright. Using local knowledge to take the back roads is a Kiwi tradition. Every New Zealander would have done this at least once in their life. So by Don's definition, we are all lower than rats. I'll put my hand up here ` heavy traffic in Auckland this week, trying to get to a meeting with my boss ` took this well-trodden and quite difficult shortcut through Mount Eden. I am a rat-runner. I'm not proud of it, but it's a reality. People will go the way the roads make them go. It's the force of nature, it's survival, and calling people rats won't stop it. The only thing that will stop it is fixing our bloody roads. So tonight I've got no issues with rat-runners. If there are rats here, it's Waka Kotahi. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Now earlier, we saw some terrible bullying and coming up ` I'm with the parents at that school as they find out from police why bullying is worse than they thought. And Karen gets some shocking takes on 'bagsing' from the leaders of all our major religions. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Welcome back, Kiwis. Now we're about to find out how much worse phones can make bullying, but first, it's time to get back to bagsing, Karen. - Well, look, Paddy, I mean, basically, I'd hit a brick wall of bureaucratic silence. OK? So, I mean, look, I'll start with this ` six religious leaders walk into a room, right? - CHUCKLES: Yes. - No, it's not a joke. - It sounds like` it sounds like a joke. - No, that's what actually happened, because I had to ask them all to come and talk to me. So they` they came in the door. Check it out. Why won't anyone tell me if it's wrong? There are no laws about bagsing. We all know about it, but nobody wants to talk about it. I keep coming back to Land Transport Road User rule 11.6. 11.6. 11.6... 'Loitering on crossings or roadways'. Loitering... is it loitering? It says ` Is that the key to unlocking the conspiracy of bags-notting? 11.6... roadway... loiter. If the law, council or government won't tell me, there's only one obvious thing to do ` gather together a group of religious leaders to guide our morals. (LAUGHTER) (UPBEAT POP MUSIC) So I had an email from my best friend Jayden, and he's got a real issue with bagsing car parks. Basically, I just want to know, do you think that morally, bagsing a car park is OK? - Don't think I've ever read in the scripture 'Thou shall not bags a car park'. - Mm. (LAUGHTER) - Well, first I'd say that there are more pressing and more painful moral issues... in our day. Recognising that, I would say how sad it is... we feel so rushed, we feel at such competition, one with the other, that we have to bags a car park. - If somebody's heart is spacious, and they're living a life of generous giving, then they wouldn't think to hold something close to themselves. - So if your heart is spacious, don't steal car spaces. - Well, I think` yeah. (LAUGHTER) - Let's look at this situation from our own house ` you have one toilet in the house. What would you do? Would you remain in the toilet so that you need to keep using it whenever you need? Or what would you do is whenever you need it, you would occupy it, right? - So don't just hang out in the toilet all day. - Exactly. - I'm going to ask a question, and I want a yes or no. Simple as that. For you personally, as a person, would you bags a car park? - No, I would not, unless I were in desperate need. - My answer would be the` the 'D' word. Depends. (LAUGHTER) - Jill, what about you? Would you do it? - Confession ` I might have actually done this in the past. - We're not here to judge anybody. - The supermarkets bags car parks for` I think it's old people. They've got like two people and a line between them on some of the car parks. And I've always thought, 'Is that couples only? Is that old people?' I didn't know what that symbol means. So in a way, we already do that, don't we? - OK, we're getting off topic. I don't know how this happens all the time. I think it might be me. - If it's late in the evening, you're going to PAK'nSAVE it's raining heavily, and there are 10 mobility car parks, out of which none of them are being used, I don't think it makes any difference if you park in a mobility park. - What if there's only one? - If there's only one, then you wouldn't, but if there's 10` - If there's 10. Have you heard of... these things ` they're umbrellas. (ALL LAUGH) OK, so bagsing probably isn't evil. It's dangerous, annoying, but also useful and time-saving. There really needs to be an official call on it. I need to get this changed so I can get some sleep. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Yeah, so, I mean, even there, of all the places, I couldn't even get moral guidance, or a yes or no answer. - (CHUCKLES) - Well, I guess when there's no right answer, it always just comes down to personal values. - Yeah, so whose values are the best? - Well, I guess research says that some people are wired for competition and some people are wired for collaboration. - Which ones are the best ones? - The ones who aren't wrong. (LAUGHTER) - I've definitely got a problem because I'm anti-bagsing, but pro rat-running. - I know. You seem at conflict, Paddy. - Yeah, I'm deeply conflicted. I really do have issues. (LAUGHTER) All right. Time to turn back to bullying now. It's always been around, but why has it gotten so much worse lately? It's time to go behind the issue. (APPLAUSE) I'm going to hit you with some numbers now. We all know that more kids have phones than ever before, but how many exactly? Well, 65% of Kiwi 11-year-olds have one, and by the time they're 14, it's 94%, and basically every single 17-year-old has one. We also get the feeling that kids are online a lot. But just how much? Well, it's growing really fast. 15-year-olds have gone from 14 hours a week online to 42 hours. 42 hours ` that's more than a working week on the Internet. And by the way, that's seven hours more than the OECD average. So what are the effects of all this? Well, this UK study shows us that when kids spend more time on social media, their chance of being depressed goes up fast, especially girls. And it's not only depression ` we know from a growing body of international research ` that's proper science ` that social media makes bullying much worse. Firstly, old school bullying was mostly at school ` home was a reprieve, a safe haven, but thanks to these phones, our kids are being bullied in their bedrooms on weekends, or late into the night. They are never safe. Don't think that your kid's being bullied? Well, I hope you're right. But this big study has bad news for you, because kids victimised on their phones don't want to tell anyone, because they don't want to have their phone taken off them. They are keeping quiet about it. Do we need more bad news? Well, this study showed us what's obvious ` online bullying traumatises kids again and again, as the videos are shared and commented on, with social media algorithms even serving the kids the videos of their own beating. Now, worldwide outrage is growing. At the BAFTAs, Kate Winslet gave an acceptance speech pleading with governments to criminalise harmful content and told young people, 'This does not need to be your life.' And America's top public health doctor, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has just issued an advisory saying social media isn't safe, and urged tech companies, the government and parents to take immediate action to protect kids now. So we can't do anything about it, right? Well, not right, actually. In Australia, they have at least tried to make school a safe place ` phones are banned from schools in Victoria. They are banned in South Australia, they are banned in the Northern Territory, they're banned in Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. The ban is coming this year. Queensland are still considering it. What are we doing here in New Zealand? Nothing. Coming up ` Karen and her best friend Jayden are forced to take the bagsing conundrum into their own hands. And given Australia has made laws to fix the bullying problem, why aren't we? (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (APPLAUSE) - Nau mai, hoki mai. Now, coming up ` Karen takes car park bagsing into her own hands. But first, it's time to zoom out a bit and have the news desk check in on the rest of the world. Eli, Courtney, tell me that the world has issues too. (APPLAUSE) - Thank you, Paddy. Saudi Arabia is having an oil issue, and it has said that it will reduce how much oil it exports to the rest of the world by 1 million barrels per day, starting in July. - PADDY: Whoa. - The cuts are to combat the dropping oil prices due to reduced demand around the world. So come on, people, drive! Drive for Saudi Arabia! - PADDY: Yeah, drive. - This is the most dramatic cut since Eli had a personality crisis and tried out bangs. (LAUGHTER) - PADDY: Whoa. Good look. - Australia is facing the daunting task of dealing with fire ants, which are progressing into New South Wales and could reach Sydney by 2035. It would cost the city $12 billion a year to deal with, and absolutely devastate the picnic industry. The ants are proving quite hard to control. Pesticides don't seem to work. I think it's because they have those little 'anty bodies'. The good news is by 2035, most of Australia will be on fire, so you'll barely notice the ants. - North Korea had issues when its first spy satellite launch failed dramatically after the projectile plummeted into the ocean and straight after takeoff. I know this episode is about how bad bullying is, but` but shame North Korea, you losers! - PADDY: Losers. - North Korea now has domain over the ocean, but Willy swears he will always be free. - PADDY: Aw. - ELI: Love you, Willy. India has caused an issue with their anti-smoking regulations. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are challenging the country's tobacco rules that will make them insert anti-smoking graphics over any scene that involves smoking, meaning they have to re-edit hundreds of hours of content. They're trying to enforce the new smoking rules, but it might be a bit counterintuitive to use a big graphic that says 'Smoking rules'. (LAUGHTER) I think the censorship is crazy. I mean, they already edited all the squids out of Squid Games. It was just games! I wanted to see some squids! - Man, I'm so glad that doesn't happen here. I love living in the land of the long` - Hey, hey, hey. This is Smokefree 2025. - Yeah. - Yeah. Stop it, now. - Oh, it means we've got two more years. - Put those cancer sticks away. (CHUCKLES) All right. Thanks, guys. If there's one person I'd like to bully, it's Mr Big Tobacco, but back to actual bullying now. We all know this ` bullying and phones aren't just a problem for kids, they're a problem for the parents as well. (EERIE MUSIC) I'm back at Napier Intermediate, where the principal, Tim, has got the police in to talk to parents about keeping their kids safe online. (EERIE MUSIC CONTINUES) - Our biggest problem is around the cyber safety, which you're gonna hear about tonight. Students coming to our school ` they have to hand their phones over to their teachers. But one of the things we deal with the most is those phones being taken home on the weekend and the issues coming back into our school on a Monday morning. Tonight is about challenging you as parents to step up for your kids. Take their phones away. Turn them off. That's our role as parents. They're struggling with it, and we need to help them. We can't ignore it. So tonight, please listen to Shea and Dom. I just wanted to take the time just to` - Shea and Dom, the local police officers, didn't want us to film their session because of the highly sensitive details they wanted to share. When we returned, parents were shocked to find what their children are doing on their phones. The violence and the bullying ` does that worry you? - We were both shocked, to be quite honest. - Yeah. I am shocked with hearing` - The bullying. - Yeah. - We didn't know. - So it was great having` having the policeman here, Constable Shea, and just saying, you know, there's things your kids need to know at intermediate what's going on. High school's too late. - How did you find tonight? - Terrifying. - Yeah, yeah, it was pretty concerning, eh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was eye-opening, I think. - Yeah. You are supportive of that idea of no phones in schools? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. (SOMBRE MUSIC) - They're just kids, and I think that's the biggest thing that was pointed out tonight. You know, these` these are young adolescents trying to deal with very, very complex situations in their lives. When I was their age, I was out on the street playing tennis on the road, and I had to go home when the streetlights came on ` that was time to go home, you know. I didn't have all these other things that were influencing us. You know, we were able to be kids. And I'm sure you were too, you know? But kids today can't be kids. (APPLAUSE) - Well, parents there looking for solutions. Here's one possible one ` a dumb phone, texting and calling only ` 50 bucks. Is this` is this a good idea? - Well, I hope so. That's the phone that my son Melvin has. He's 11 and it seems good enough for that. - I think so. Parents want to know that their kids are safe, and a dumb phone is a great solution to that. - Yeah, well, what about the smartphone then? As a child psychologist, what age should kids or children get one of these? - Well, there's no clear answer, because all children are different. But I think that as a general rule of thumb, I don't think most children under the age of 15 or 16 are able or mature enough to handle the complexities that mobile phones present to them. - 15 or 16 till they get one of these. That will shock a lot of people. - It will indeed. - That really will shock a lot of people. Now, Karen, speaking of shocks, have you been able to sort of shock this car pack bagsing situation into some sort of solution? - Well, basically, Paddy. I mean, everyone's bags-notting the issue, you know, so I had to come up with my own solutions. And so I went to see Jayden and presented him with two options, basically. (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) All right, bigwigs. You've got one last chance to step up and take responsibility. (WHIP CRACKS) I asked everyone again if they would do an interview to talk about making a rule about bagsing. Waka Kotahi ` refused. New Zealand Police ` refused. Ministry of Transport ` refused. Tauranga Council ` refused. One huge bags not from everyone who could change the rules. Time to break Jayden's heart. (CHUCKLES) Looking good now, aren't you? (SEAGULLS CAW) Jayden, how's it going? - Good, Karen. Yourself? - Not too bad, but I do have some bad news. I'm really sorry to tell you that your issue of bagsing car parks is not going to be addressed by the law any time soon, if ever. - Oh, no. - Yeah, it's rough, but I'm` I feel like we've got two options. So the first option would be that you just kind of get over it and realise that it's just part of life and there's nothing you can do about it. - That'll be tough. - I'm sure it would be. But I do have another option ` option two, which is that we take the law into our own hands. So which option do you want to go for ` one or two? - I vote for option two. - Option two it is. Let's do it. Great. - Perfect. (FAST-PACED ROCK MUSIC) (FAST-PACED ROCK MUSIC CONTINUES) - Put that somewhere. - Yeah! - Yes. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Karen O'Leary ` you didn't solve anything. You became a vandal and took the law into your hands. Nobody told you to become a vandal. - Well` well, no, I know that. And I call it out, actually. But anyway, what I did have to do is I commissioned a nationwide poll through research company Dynata to find out once and for all if bags in car parks is actually OK or not. Here's the results. So we had 76% said it's not OK, and only 16% it was OK. So basically, I have solved the issue ` don't bags car parks. That's all there is to it. No more. Enough. Now, listen, if you guys have got an issue, I want to know about it. So email issues@paddygower.co.nz and let me come and help you out. - Yeah. Well, another big effort by Karen tonight. And coming up ` we'll tell you about new research showing how bad these things ` phones ` are for our kids. Is it time to ban them? (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Welcome back to Paddy Gower Has Issues. Now to help me with this bullying issue, I headed up to Auckland Uni to meet Dr Samantha Marsh. She has spent over a decade investigating the effects of screens on teenagers, and in one study, she interviewed hundreds of families. (SOMBRE MUSIC) - We talked to New Zealand parents of young teenagers, and we heard a lot of stories about kids hitting their parents in the face when they tried to take their cell phone away from them. One mum reported that her son peed himself instead of getting up. He wouldn't want to leave his gaming console. So, yeah, so lots of kind of different things, but really concerning things. - In America, groundbreaking scientific research has just been released. They studied the brains of thousands of kids from the age of 9 to when they turned 11. They used MRI imaging and found too much screen time was literally changing their brains. - Those kids were more depressed, had higher anxiety and more aggression, and things like that. Then they looked at the MRI scans and they saw a pattern of changes to the brain, and that pattern of change is very similar to one that they've identified previously in adults who start drinking at a young age. - Addictive behaviour. - Yeah. - It showed neural pathways, I guess they're called that. - They were showing, yeah, changes in the actual grey matter and things, yeah, and the actual structure of the brain. - Well, I mean, does that worry you? - There's no way it wouldn't. It doesn't surprise me. You know, when you see kids with screens these days and their behaviours, and you hear what parents are saying is happening in the home, it doesn't` it's not shocking to me that they would find this, but it is the first time that they've found it, which is important. - And I've told you about the bullying issues that we've looked at. One of the things that the children told us was that kids are more violent because they know it's being filmed. Does that make sense to you? - It absolutely makes sense to me. It frightens me, but it makes sense. So we know even with the ram-raids and things that kids` some kids apparently are doing that because they're filming it and then sharing it and it's` you know, and it makes sense, yes. - In Australia, they've now banned cell phones in schools in virtually every single state. Is that something that we should be considering here? - A ban on cell phones in schools? I think it's kind of like it would be a gift for kids. I think it would free them up to have some time during the day when they don't have all that messaging coming in. They're not tethered to their parents even. You know, school's meant to be a time when you're at school to learn, but also to interact with your friends and things like that. And it'd be a really a great leveller, because for all the kids out there who maybe use a lot of screens outside of school, it would give everybody that opportunity to kind of just relax, to disconnect from that kind of outside world and be at school and be present. (APPLAUSE) - So we just heard Dr Marsh there talking about children's brains, and children's brains are rapidly changing, and they develop in relation to the experiences that kids have in their lives. Now, smartphones significantly increase dopamine levels. And by spending so much time on their phones, kids' brains get used to that increased level. So when we take their phones away, they feel like something's desperately missing. So their brain's priority is to get back on their phones, and this ultimately competes with the task of being a child and learning in school. - OK, then. So what do you think about this idea of a ban on phones in schools? - I personally think that smartphones add nothing to the learning experience. Tech can be taught using many other devices. However, in order to do that, we do need buy-in from parents. Otherwise, teachers are going to spend all of their time enforcing a phone ban. - Well, as a parent, I'm going to be on your side there. I think banning the phones is just a no-brainer. - Right-oh. Well, for me, it goes like this. We have a bullying epidemic in our schools, and these damn phones are incubating the disease. It's really complex, but here's a simple solution ` something that you can do right now. Your kid's first phone should be one of these ` a dumb phone. No camera, no social media, no dopamine drain. Texting and ringing only. But why don't we think bigger? Everybody knows the damage that smartphones are doing to our kids. Everybody knows, but hardly anyone in this country is talking about banning them in our primary schools, in our intermediate schools, and in our high schools. There is virtually no debate out there about this in New Zealand. Just stop and think about that ` why aren't we talking about this massive problem? Maybe because it will be too hard, maybe because it will be unpopular. But we could give all our kids seven hours a day with no smartphones ` time to just be kids again. And there is one way to do that ` it is time to ban smartphones in schools. I say we do it, and I'm prepared to stand up and call for it. I'm Paddy Gower, those were my issues and I'm going to miss youse. See you next week. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.