I Know This to Be True: Jacinda Ardern: On Kindness, Empathy, and Strength

by Geoff Blackwell

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young boy gesture to me. He was shy, almost retreating towards a barrier, but he also had something he clearly wanted to say. I quickly crouched down next to him. He didn’t say his name or even say hello, he simply whispered, ‘Will I be safe now?’. What does it take for a child to feel safe? As adults, we are quick to make the practical changes that will enable us to say that such a horrific act could never happen again. And we did that. Within ten days of the attack we made a decision to change our guns laws and banned military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles in New Zealand. We have started on a second tranche of reforms to register weapons and change our licensing regime. These changes will help to make us safer. But when you’re a child, fear is not discrete, and it cannot be removed through legislative acts or decrees from Parliament. Feeling safe means the absence of fear. Living free from racism, bullying and discrimination. Feeling loved, included and able to be exactly who you are. And to feel truly safe, those conditions need to be universal. No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter where you live.