Pom in Oz with Derek Goforth: Life is all about choice, so until you’re sure keep your options open

What’s the most powerful word, the most significant concept in our society? In my opinion it’s “choice”. The ability to make a choice, an informed choice, a decision that allows us to go in a direction of our choosing. The word choice has so many connotations, it would be difficult to condense it into an article. Rather, I would need a book. I like to think of it from the context of equality — being equal in the ability to make a choice, to have the opportunity to do so. I don’t and never have agreed with Labor’s principle of a 50/50 split of the genders in our Upper and Lower houses. There are so many issues wound up in this, I wouldn’t know where to start. To simply say that an applicant is chosen based on an “equal” fissure is crazy. But what I do believe in is that the genders should have an equal opportunity to apply and gain a seat, but this is so different to how our State pollies see it. Everyone should be able to choose to do this — to become an MLC or a doctor, lawyer, baker, butcher. But that doesn’t mean we should have an equal amount of male surgeons as we do female. What it means is that should be equality of opportunity — for everyone, regardless of gender, socioeconomic background, age or race. I bang on about this with my students every day. You need to work hard, not to be the top of the class but to ensure you can make a choice when it comes to it. This could be going to uni, to TAFE or on to employment. But we need to work hard in all areas so we are able to make this choice and not have the choice made for us by circumstance. This is taking the power we should all own and handing it to someone else — your bosses, your teachers , your parents. . . the list goes on. I ask my students — what do you want to do? Most of the time the answer is “I don’t know” . So I tell them “until you know, you have to keep your options wide open, you need to work hard so when the time comes to make a choice, you can make the one you want to make and not the one you have to make.” One student told me she wants to be a full-time mum, she wants to just raise her children. She thought I would disapprove, thought I would think it was somehow less noble, less worthy than going to uni or TAFE. She thought I would see it as less impactful than going into employment. But I told her as long as this was her choice and not something she felt she had to do, it was 100 per cent worthy and noble. Being a mum is perhaps one of the hardest jobs you can do, if you do it properly. It trumps most professions as far as hours and low wages! If it’s your choice, it’s the right thing to do. There is so much wasted opportunity in this life, so many students missing out on what they could be. I don’t care if my kids go to uni or TAFE or straight into a job. What I care about is them making a choice about what they want, not a choice based on what they have to do. Derek Goforth is a teacher at Geraldton Christian College