Someone to watch over them..

An 8 year old Queensland boy was rushed to hospital in March this year, suffering serious injuries, after fleeing a bully from his school. His mother claimed he had been repeatedly harassed and his school did nothing to stop the abuse.

Blair Retallick lay fighting for his life in a Townsville hospital, as authorities, his parents and the school discussed who was to blame.

Blair’s mother claimed he had been the victim of bullying for some time. He had been kicked, spat on, punched, and verbally abused.

Despite Patricia Retallick claiming she had made many complaints to the school, nothing was done. Blair was left with a fractured skull, a bruised brain and lacerated liver.

Parents send their children to school with the best intentions. They want to feel confident about their child’s well being,care, and safety. These factors are just as important as their child’s education.

Blair’s story is becoming more and more common in Australian schools. Incidents that were unique to countries like the USA are now happening more frequently. There was recently a shooting death in another Australian school, which also shocked the nation.

There has been continuing debate as to why school children are becoming increasingly violent. But, while we sit here and blame the media and computer games, bullying continues and our children are not being protected.

Installing video cameras in schools won’t prevent all bullying cases, but it may contribute to a much needed decline. Cameras in schools would help to deter offenders or bring them to justice.

In so many cases, victims are too fearful to report their attacks, for fear of increasing the anger of their attacker. Parents are left helpless with lack of solid evidence when reporting incidents. Too often it becomes a case of ‘he said/she said’ and matters are not properly dealt with.

Cameras may initially be seen as a breach of privacy, but they have become commonplace in our lives now. They are protecting people working in banks, merchandise in stores and vehicles in car parks. Surely the safety of our children is now more important?

http://www.news.com.au/national/blair-retallick-8-hit-by-car-in-townsville-while-fleeing-bully/story-e6frfkvr-122583633142

In the swing of things..

This is perhaps a little bit cheeky, but who couldn't laugh at this weekend's story on page 22, in the West Australian, 'Swinger jailed for running sex parties'?

53 year old Chinese university professor Ma Yaohai has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years for helping to organise like minded "swingers" for group sex parties.

21 members of Ma's sex club were convicted of "group licentiousness" - the first time anyone in China has been prosecuted under the 1977 law.

The court case prompted a lot of interest in China, with many Chinese siding with Ma and objecting to an overreaching "nanny state".

Ma had his own 'spin' on the situation, before his sentence. Ma said he had no regrets. "Why should I feel regretful for this?," he said. "It's totally their fault for bringing my privacy in bed into the public. I didn't know about the crime before".

Humour aside, the article makes one question how much control governments should have over what consenting adults do in the bedroom.

The article claims that an online survey, conducted by Sohu.com showed that 60 per cent of roughly 20,000 respondents thought the verdict was unreasonable because the swingers were all consenting adults.

Who are we kidding? this is China! 20,000 Chinese people doing an online survey is hardly a measure of the nation's feelings towards something that would probably be considered controversial in the western world. I'd question the validity of the claim that "many Chinese are siding with Ma", with only 0.02% of the population participating in the survey!

Cert IV Public Relations could be for you

The Cert IV Public Relations course at Perth Central is one worth looking at for school leavers and mature age students in 2011.

If you have an interest in people, have excellent writing skills, creativity, desire to work in some of the most interesting and challenging environments in the world, have an outgoing personality and would like an exciting career, this could be the course for you.

The diversity of the course allows you to have a wide scope of personal development and employment opportunities, unlike others offered in the Business Management Faculty.
You will experience exposure to improved and powerful writing skills, advertising, marketing, desk top publishing, public speaking, developing displays, as well as gaining and mastering time management and deadline s.

There are opportunities to become involved in real industry activities, meet representatives from the industry, and to learn from experienced professionals.
The Cert IV Public Relations course can also be used as a stepping stone to further tertiary education. Now aligned with other institutions like Curtin and Edith Cowan, students are able to use their certificate as a pathway in to courses like journalism and other media based courses.

Successful completion of the Cert IV course also enables students to continue on in to next semester to the Public Relations Diploma Course.

The course is dynamic and fast moving. Students are continually challenged and guided to reach their highest potential, assisting them to be ‘industry ready’ and able to compete with others wanting to be employed in public relations or associated areas. Students are given a realistic idea of the industry’s expectations, and are assisted in gaining the skills they will need to thrive.

Most students, that have successfully completely the course, have gone on to working in the public relations industry, events areas, the media and other administration based jobs, or have successfully achieved entrance in to their desired university or other tertiary institution courses.

My beautiful mum...

Mothers Day is still a little bit raw and painful for me. This is only my second Mothers Day without mum and I am still getting used to it.

I was there when she took her last breath - we all were. I remember feeling guilty for all the things I never said or did for her. I felt disappointed that I couldn't stop the pain she suffered, and the loss of dignity she went through in her final years. I was also happy that she was finally at peace,and her loss makes me want to believe there is a Heaven.

I have been reflecting on her life and my love for her this week, trying to work out what I will leave for her at the cemetery on Sunday.

My mum was beautiful. She was probably the most unselfish person I ever knew. I try to be a lot like her, but she was far kinder and full of an almost child like innocense.

Mum loved us. There was never any doubt. She had very little money, but she was always great at making things. She could pretty much sew anything! she loved to bake, she loved to garden, and she really loved her sport!

Mum was a champion long distance runner and hurdler. She represented Western Australia in athletics and softball. She loved East Fremantle and The Fremantle Dockers.

We were forever making trips to the convent near our house, as we were growing up in Palmyra. There were lemons, eggs and home grown vegetables to take up to the nuns, or flowers for the church. If mum could help anybody, other than herself, she did.

Until the day she died, mum was deeply religious. She had two religions actually…God and football! most people would argue she loved both equally. She had an amazing, yet dry, sense of humour, that helped her to endure some pretty tough times.

Most of all, mum loved Tom. I know he carries a lot of her spirit with him and I see her every day in his eyes.

Mum was pretty sick and frail when this picture was taken. She had survived a massive heart attack and several strokes. There was much damage to her brain, and sadly she suffered dementia. Her personality was no longer the mum we knew, but during her moments of lucidity, she always made us smile.

Mum LOVED to run, so it was sad she could barely walk in her final years. I hope she is running in Heaven.

May God Bless you and keep you safe mum xxxxx

I think I can, I know I can: Motivation

Motivation is energy. It can come from within, or can be from the inspiration of others.

It comes in different forms and can be positive or negative. When a person commits a crime, one might ask him/her,"What motivated you to do that?” When a football team wins a game you might hear, "They were motivated to make the finals."

Self motivation is the best form of motivation. It is passionate, real, satisfying and gets the best results. It has the highest energy. It is an energy you 'own'.

Motivating others is difficult. I have observed different coaches over the years, through sports my brothers and son have played. Some choose to 'fire up' players/athletes by being very critical and almost abusive, while others give more positive structure and reassurance. I believe both of these can work, depending on the individual and the way they respond.

I couldn't help but wonder what Mark Harvey would have said to the Dockers at half time yesterday. They were losing to the Eagles and it wasn't looking good. I was slightly confident they would make a comeback, but there was a lot of work to do.

He may have told them they were doing ok but needed to stick on their players, get the hard ball, kick more direct, run hard etc

OR

He might have taken a different approach. He may have told them they were playing poorly, would be humiliated if they lost to a team that wasn't doing well, needed to get back their local pride and wouldn't look like a credible finals side if they were to lose.

Whatever Mark Harvey told them it worked. The team did come out after half time and put more points on the board. Not only did they kick enough goals to hit the lead, they were able to prevent the Eagles from scoring. Confidence kicked in, and the Dockers won by a substantial margin.

The Dockers are doing well this year because they have a new belief in themselves. With this comes pride, determination and passion. I really believe there is a combination of self motivation and the support of their coach's motivation that has seen a fairytale start to the season for them.

A lecturer is in much the same position as a coach. He/she can only enhance motivation that is within his/her students. They can't produce the work for the student, and their techniques are useless if the individual is not prepared to cooperate.

Personally, a positive style of motivation works best with me. If I can see the light at the end of a tunnel, then I have more determination to get there. If I see consequence and misery, then I feel less energetic.

Assignments and work are like an over filled dinner plate put in front of a child. You don't know where to start and you feel overwhelmed with expectation. Energy levels are low; motivation is low, and giving in before you even begin becomes an attractive option.

Sometimes we want choice taken away from us and for others to help us to decide. We may already have the confidence or ability, but have put up walls that don’t allow us to move forward. A coach or lecturer can help us to bring these down. They can help us go from, “I think I can” to, “I know I can”.

There was a book my parents read to me when I was young called The Little Red Engine that Could by Wally Piper. I read this same Little Golden Book to Tom when he was young. This is taken from the book:


A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill "I can't; that is too much a pull for me," said the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused. In desperation, the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. "I think I can," puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

As it neared the top of the grade, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I--think--I--can, I--think--I--can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

The story is famous because it teaches children the value of optimism and hard work.
Sometimes motivation comes from the inspiration of others. We see how they have succeeded through their hard work, and we are inspired to do so ourselves.

One person who inspires me is my son. He was born early and we were told he would be slow to walk; his motor skills would take a long time to catch up to others. His early years did not look bright.

He was born with an amazing determination that he still has to day.

The child that wasn’t supposed to walk until he was 2 ran past us in the living room at 9 months! He went on to excel at everything he did. He has a sense of adventure and is always determined to do his best at whatever he tries. At 18 months he was roller-skating, by 4 he was riding bikes and skateboarding, by 6 he was surfing, by 7 he was a State swimmer with an impressive collection of medals and trophies.

One could argue he is naturally gifted, but ‘naturally gifted’ doesn’t get you out of bed at 4.30am at least 4 times a week. Naturally gifted doesn’t make you choose between missing out on watching tv and playing computer games, or going to training.

The amazing thing is I can’t swim. I can swim enough to save myself, but cannot do a lap of a pool. Tom has been doing 5km+ swims since the age of 7! I can’t criticise his swimming because it is not something I can even imagine doing myself. I am merely the taxi driver.

He is able to create goals and plan how he is going to achieve them. This is something I was never strong at. He is able to rise above disappointment.
You could say he is just responding to the motivation of his coach, but those who know him know his motivation comes from within.

We were once at the State Long Course Championships. Tom had qualified for everything, but his pet event was the 50 metre butterfly. He was 9 years old and he was a medal chance.

When the swimmers lined up for the event, lane 4 was missing. The coach and others looked around confused. There was no Tom! He had gone to the wrong marshalling area and had missed the event.

The coach was greeted by a heart broken swimmer. We all felt his disappointment. He had trained hard all season for this event – it only happened once a year! The coach suggested he go home as there was no way he would be able to function for any other events that day.

What happened next surprised us. Tom went down to the ‘cool off’ pool. We let him go on his own, to ‘get it out of his system’. He was away longer than expected.

The boy’s 9 and Under Backstroke event came up, and there was Tom on the blocks! His coach was amazed. He said it was the last thing he expected.

Tom not only surpassed his personal best time, he blitzed the pool and won the heat, making him rank in the top 5 in the state!

That’s the way he is.

He motivates me by encouraging me and showing interest in what I do. He loves to come in to see where I am with my assignments, critics my presentations, and loves to tell his friends that his mum is at “Uni”. He enjoys being involved and hearing about “what mum did at school today”. I am motivated because I know that giving in, not doing my assignments on time, not doing my best etc are not setting him a good example, and his disappointment in me would also be quite hurtful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Engine_That_Could