COMMENTARY: Pirihira Whata, Practice & Development Lead
Following on from some of my recent reflections on what shapes rangatahi wellbeing, I’ve been continuing to sit with where that influence is felt most strongly. I keep coming back to whānau.
There’s a strong and growing focus on what rangatahi need, and rightly so, but a significant part of the picture sits around the people raising them. Rangatahi are part and parcel of a whānau and the whānau dynamic has a huge imprint on rangatahi lives and in shaping wellbeing.
What stands out most is the strength that already exists within whānau. Parents and caregivers are doing the best they can, drawing on their own experiences, instincts, and values. There is a depth of care, commitment, and love in our communities that often goes unacknowledged.
At the same time, parenting today comes with new layers. Digital environments, alcohol and vaping, shifting social pressures. These are all things that previous generations did not navigate in quite the same way. Alongside that, the spaces where knowledge and support were once shared more openly are not always as visible or easy to access.
That does not take away from the strength that is already there. It highlights an opportunity to build on it.
What continues to come through is the idea of the village. The way raising tamariki has traditionally been held within a wider network including hapū, marae, and whānau, where knowledge, responsibility, and support were shared across generations.
Those connections still exist and remain a source of strength. There is real potential in exploring how that sense of collective support can continue to grow and evolve in today’s context, and what might be possible if those ways of connecting and supporting each other were strengthened over time.
There is also a growing awareness that much of what shapes wellbeing happens in ordinary moments. Being listened to. Having clear and consistent boundaries. Feeling safe in relationships. Knowing who you are and where you belong.
These everyday experiences are powerful. They do not sit within services. They live within whānau.
While many of these practices come naturally, others can be strengthened through shared learning, connection, and support. That is where there is a real opportunity. Not to change what whānau are doing, but to build on what is already there.
For me, this is where the thinking continues to sit. Taking the time to understand what is working, and where there is potential to strengthen it further.
Because when whānau feel supported, connected, and resourced, it creates the conditions for rangatahi to thrive.
