Teen’s Everest summit inspires Knight’s message on youth crime
Bianca Adler’s record-breaking Everest climb exposes the nation’s dangerous divide between young achievers and the crisis of youth crime, captured in cartoonist Mark Knight’s contrasting panels
READING LEVEL: RED
Occasionally someone comes along and does something so extraordinary that it makes us all sit up and go, “What was that?!”
Such was the case this week, when 18-year-old Melbourne VCE student Bianca Adler summited Mount Everest. No, not Mt Eliza; she conquered all 8,848m of the big kahuna in Nepal with her two Sherpa* guides, Pemba and Ngdu, becoming the youngest ever Australian to reach the peak. And she did it in the dark! Her team said it would be less crowded at that time and would make the job of getting up to the top and back to base camp easier. Okay, if you say so.
It seems like a long way to go for the ultimate selfie. The thing about Bianca is that at the ripe old age of 18, she is a bit of an old hand, having already scaled some of the world’s major peaks due to the fact that her mum and dad Fiona and Paul are climbers and both successfully summited Mount Everest in 2006 and 2007 respectively*.
On this expedition*, they were supporting her at base camps on Everest before she set off for her final tilt at the top. Hanging out with mum and dad isn’t so daggy after all.
We should remember that climbing at these altitudes* is extremely dangerous. Lack of oxygen, altitude sickness, fierce cold, frostbite* and rapid weather changes, not to mention ice falls and those crevasses*. And the most dangerous part? Climbing back down. That is where many climbers come unstuck, exhausted and delirious after ascending* and not having enough in reserve to get back down. The mountain is littered with the remains of those who succumbed* to nature’s extremes.
I wanted to pay tribute to Bianca’s incredible feat in my daily cartoon and commemorate what an inspiration she was for youth in Australia and indeed around the world.
As I was sketching and doodling on the page, I was listening to the news and reports came in of the continuing fire bombing of businesses in Melbourne and the numerous machete* attacks from the night before. Police had arrested youths carrying the weapons in a shopping centre.
What is happening is that organised crime* is hiring young people to do its dirty work. For money, they are sent to burn down first tobacco stores, to intimidate merchants into buying their illegal cigarette products.
Now the arson* campaign is moving into illicit* alcohol, with nightclubs, bars, pubs and restaurants the new targets for attack. Teenagers are easy prey for organised crime, with the lure of quick money, notoriety* and the promise of moving up in the ranks of the underworld.
Car theft is another faculty of the university of crime in Melbourne. Kids stealing cars from people’s driveways at night with high tech devices or simply carjacking some innocent person’s vehicle, usually at knifepoint. I looked at the stark contrast between one kid climbing Mount Everest and others in Melbourne burning down bars. Stark.
I felt I had to pivot my cartoon form being a tribute to achievement into a compare and contrast exercise. I created two panels. On the left, the scene of a youth in a customary hoodie, with arms raised, brandishing a jerry can of fuel and a machete, running from a blazing store.
On the second panel, I drew Bianca standing atop the world’s tallest peak, wearing her high altitude gear, her arms raised in exultation* as she waves to the world below.
Okay, what I needed now was a caption.
They refer to the current epidemic* of lawlessness as the “youth crime wave”. I wrote that above our hooded hoodlum. Words are fun to mess around with; maybe there was a play on words to be found here? Looking closer, I saw there was. A change of one letter: “crime” became “climb”. And there it was: “Melbourne youth crime wave” to “Melbourne youth climb wave”.
One small change to a word can make a difference. Maybe a change in the lives of these youths committing crimes can make a difference too?
If families are dysfunctional* or kids have been led down the wrong path, then diversion programs are needed to mentor them and show them a better way.
Importantly, they need to know right from wrong and should be punished and taught that there are consequences for your actions, but they also need to be shown how they can make a better life. Otherwise, they will just reoffend as we have seen with the bail system.
Bianca not only had her mum and dad showing her what was possible, she had her two Sherpas, Pemba and Ngdu, showing her the way up that mountain, over crevasses and across ice seracs* to her ultimate goal. Maybe the wayward youths back here need a few “life” Sherpas to help them find the right path too.
EDITOR’S NOTE: THE REALITY OF YOUTH KNIFE CRIME
Award-winning Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight often uses unlikely comparisons to make a point in his political cartoons. Mark’s work frequently uses humour – but the rise of youth knife crime in Australia is no laughing matter.
It is deadly serious.
Working for the Victorian capital’s metropolitan newspaper, Mark’s reference point for social issues is often Melbourne, but Kids News HQ is currently north of the border in Sydney.
A major office of the NSW Police Force is just up the road and their field officers are having a difficult time with youth knife crime around here and other parts of Sydney too.
So Kids News reached out the NSW Police for official guidance for young people – because we’re talking about kids who are just a few years older than most of you.
We hope you’re never in a situation in which you need to follow this advice; nonetheless, all children should have access to information for their own safety, now and in the future.
STAY SAFE – A REALITY CHECK FROM THE NSW POLICE
1. The truth about carrying knives
What young people tell police:
- “I carried it for protection”
- “I didn’t plan to use it”
- “Everyone else had one”
The reality police see:
- Knives do not make situations safer
- Arguments escalate instantly when a blade is present
Panic, fear and alcohol often lead to:
- Accidental stabbings
- Life-changing injuries
- Death
2. Unintended consequences
Most knife incidents start as:
- Arguments
- Social conflicts
- Moments of anger
A single movement can:
- Change lives forever
- Ruin families on both sides
Legal consequences in NSW and other states
- Carrying a knife without lawful excuse is an offence
- Police don’t need you to use it for action to be taken
Outcomes can include:
- Arrest and Charge
- Criminal conviction
- Jail for serious offences
Long-term impact
A conviction can affect:
- Employment
- Travel
- Education
Many offenders say:
“I never thought it would go that far”
Key message?
- Carrying a knife increases risk for everyone
- Walk away, de-escalate, get help
- One smart decision can prevent a lifetime of regret.
START A CONVERSATION
If you’re worried about a family member or friend who carries a knife, you can support them.
Talk to them, encourage them to learn about the rules and consequences of carrying a knife
If speaking to them isn’t safe, talk to a trusted adult such as a teacher or youth worker.
IN AN EMERGENCY, CALL triple-0.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- Sherpa: members of the Tibetan people living on the high southern slopes of the Himalayas in eastern Nepal and known as excellent climbers who often work as guides and porters on Everest expeditions
- respectively: in the same order as the items or people you have just mentioned
- expedition: an organised journey or voyage for a specific purpose, especially exploration
- altitude: height above sea level
- frostbite: injury caused by severe cold, usually to their toes, fingers, ears, or nose, that causes permanent loss of tissue
- crevasses: very deep cracks in the thick ice of a glacier, moving masses of ice
- ascending: moving upwards or to higher levels
- succumbed: became overwhelmed by a force or fact or something and died
- machete: a large, heavy knife with a wide blade, intended for use cutting trees and plants
- organised crime: a wide range of criminal activities involving large numbers of people that are organised and controlled by a small group
- arson: the crime of deliberately setting fire to a building or vehicle
- illicit: an activity or substance that is not allowed by law or the social customs of a country
- notoriety: the state of being well-known for some bad or unfavourable quality or deed, infamous
- exultation: rejoicing, being jubilant, joyous, triumphant
- epidemic: a disease or an issue attacking or affecting many persons simultaneously in a community or area
- dysfunctional: unable to function normally, properly or happily
- seracs: large, often unstable blocks, pinnacles, or columns of glacial ice
EXTRA READING
Aussie teen conquers Mt Everest
Teen reveals toll of Everest climb
Remarkable traffic jam atop Mt Everest
QUICK QUIZ
- Who guided Bianca to the Everest summit and what is their role more generally known as?
- How high is the peak of Mt Everest?
- What is unusual about Bianca’s family?
- What news did Mark Knight hear on the radio as he was sketching a cartoon about Bianca?
- Why are young people in Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia being drawn into crime?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
What could you say?
What do you think kids could say to a friend who wanted to carry a knife? Use information from the story to write a script that could be used by other kids in this situation.
Time: allow at least 15 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social Capability
2. Extension
Think about Mark’s idea of a “life Sherpa”. That is, a job where someone can help young people who have committed crimes find better ways forward in life. What do you think this job would involve? What kind of person would be good at it?
Imagine that the government has listened to Mark and has created a Life Sherpa Program. Write a detailed job description for a Life Sherpa, including a list of personal qualities that are needed for this job.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes on this activity.
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social Capability
VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this cartoon is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this cartoon is only Part One. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the full story.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking