Champions
Nick Earls
Best-selling author Nick Earls loves to think like a teenager – and he does it well. Among his growing list of popular novels are books for young people – books like his latest work, Making Laws for Clouds.
His earlier novels featuring teenaged central characters, 48 Shades of Brown and After January, received awards and were produced as successful plays. 48 Shades of Brown is being adapted as a feature film.
'Adolescence is a fascinating time,' he says. "It's a time when anything feels possible, but at the same time you feel buffeted by a lot of external and internal forces. It can be great and it can be frustrating."
Nick believes young people have enough to deal with during their teenage years without having to deal with the negative effects of bullying.
"When I was at school there was a perception that bullying was physical. Now I think it's any kind of behaviour that introduces fear into a situation that shouldn't involve fear, or that includes ridicule or humiliation," he says.
"I know it's far from easy for people who are being bullied to change these situations but it's important they realise that, whatever's being said or done, it's not their fault."
Nick believes we can take control of our own lives by making some friends who will treat us well, by vigorously pursuing the things we really want, by having some practical life plans as well as dreams and by setting out to make a contribution and giving something back.
"If we feel good about ourselves and people try to treat us badly, we can often walk away and their power can evaporate. If that doesn't happen we should be able to rely on a system to support us at school."
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