By Brian Lee
Kids. Wouldn’t you miss them? Lately I’ve been considering their contribution.
Children are sometimes a secondary consideration when it comes to developing our community. Their impact is often overlooked when politicians and business people discuss economic development. It may be that we assume kids will always be here — but I wonder if we should take that for granted.
For the purposes of disclosure, I should point out that I’m not a parent. However, despite my deep appreciation of childless evenings and owning a washing machine unsullied by poop, I will say that I like kids. My friends (with kids) scoff because I can’t "possibly understand how busy" (and important) their lives are because of their kids.
Parents tend to be a little self-obsessed about the sacrifices required for soccer and dance and band and birthday parties and sleepovers. They forget I wash my own dishes and fetch my own wood so, from where I’m sitting, having a few food-dependent slaves around sounds like a holiday. But we’ll continue to disagree on that point.
I’ve coached kids, uncled kids and messed with their heads long enough to know their contribution to people’s lives is significant — and intangible. Kids say funny stuff and entertain us by wobbling around like drunk pets but they also affect our landscape in ways we might not consider. For one thing, I blame the (boy) kids for the annoyingly common low urinal — the only one available whenever I enter a men’s washroom. And they make up only five per cent of our population, but what would May Day be like without them?
As I write this, the elementary school is feverishly preparing for a performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We will go because it will be entertaining and we enjoy revelling in the community spirit it provides. Our playgrounds are built for kids and though I don’t always play on the swings, when I do, I go for it.
But kids are also an economic generator, creating jobs for teachers, support staff, nurses, swim instructors, dentists and candy sellers. And they’re dwindling away.
As the 2014 Vital Signs report shows (see p. 6), Sunshine Coast schools had 20 per cent fewer students last year than in 2007. And it gets worse closer to home. We depend on 48 families to populate our elementary school. Only 72 students make up seven grades at MPES with six per cent fewer students this year than last.
As this phenomenon continues, consider what a community without kids would look like. It might sound like a science fiction plot but this year only four students started kindergarten. That means in 12 years we could see our first empty grad class since Frank White was born.
In terms of demographics and lifestyle, the world will be a very different place in 2027. But as we enter 2015, here’s hoping that this place, not so much.
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