Predictably, 86.36 per cent said “no”. Although the respondents could have been referring to education or job opportunities, it’s a fair bet to assume that they were singing the same old tune: “There’s nothing for young people to do in Mudgee”. 

Ironically, in the same week, the Youth Council held two free movie nights for young people in the Mudgee Town Hall. Seven people turned up on Wednesday night, around 20 on Thursday night.   Rubbing salt into the wound for the volunteers who outnumbered the audience on Wednesday night was the fact that none of the Youth Council members - the organisers of the event - bothered to attend themselves. 

Sure, it’s possible that all the youth of the Mid-Western Region had better things to do in the middle of the week in the school holidays. Young people are busy with part-time jobs, school and other commitments.  But this is not the first time that events organised specifically for young people (and in this case by young people) have been poorly supported. Possibly the region’s problem is not a lack of things for young people to do, but young people who can’t be bothered to look around them, find out what is available and join in.  

Apart from sport, there are countless recreational groups, including art, drama, astronomy and photography, to name a few. And if they don’t appeal to you, there are a host of community and service groups  where you can make yourself useful, including the RFS and SES. All would welcome young people with open arms, and you will learn skills that could help you in a future job search. 

To the local young people: The community at large is not your performing clown. It is not someone else’s job to entertain you. Put down the iPad - or use it to learn what is going on in your community - and come and join the rest of the world.