Talk Of The Town -- The Colli Crew...

I have only been teaching for a short period of time at Collarenebri Central School. However, in a term I have had the opportunity to be involved in many great projects and activities. One of the proudest and most enjoyable moments has been the "raps" that the Colli Crew have been making with the expert assistance of Toby Finlayson of Desert Pea Media and the dedicated staff of the school.

I have included the link her and embedded the video for your ease. However, please clink on the link and go to the You Tube video and watch it there as often as you like. Here is the video.



This is destined to be "our" best rap yet. The reasons are simple: the message is real and it is timely.

On a personal level, it has been very rewarding to see these young people come out of their shells and commit themselves to something that is so much bigger than themselves. It has been fantastic to see how these young people have responded to the internet / YouTube fame that they have encountered. It was, and is, rewarding to watch these young people grow and develop as they start to realise that the world is there and opening up before them.

Superb effort and my whole-hearted congratulations to all those involved.

I am proud to have been associated with the project.

The Chew: Taster's Choice Review...

I really enjoyed this comic / graphic novel. I know that I am supposed to be reading Chew: Taster's Choice (Volume 1) as a potential text for my more senior students. However, it really is a collection of comics bound into a book. Nevertheless, I am totally committed to the idea that the genre is one that can be a successful addition to the units of work that I have been teaching. In any event, I sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting. It was a lot of fun.

Using Chew as a text has some potential pitfalls that I am going to have to address with both my Head Teacher and the Principal at some point. The language is sometimes at the outer edge of what might be acceptable. Yet, the reality is that I just taught a novel to my Year 10 cohort that had plenty of English's finest swear words. So, I am confident that I can get around that one.

However, a more pressing issue might be the basic premise of the comics themselves. The series follows the career of a Philadelphia police officer, Tony Chu. Chu has an interesting gift, he is "cibopathic". If you are wondering what that is, then wonder no more. A cibopath has the ability to extract the memories and histories of whatever they eat. Yes, whatever they eat. In a funny twist of fate, the only thing that Chu can eat and not have the instant "life-long history lesson" is beets.

So, here's the thing, I am wondering how my principal is going to go with the idea of teaching a graphic novel where the hero is a fella who has a habit of dining on all manner of things, including suspects, in order to find the truth. I am not at all worried about the Head Teacher, it was the Head Teacher who gave me Chew and asked me to have a read of it and see what I thought as a potential text.

Tony Chu is an interesting character, there is much conflict about him and within him. Simply, there is much to study and work with. However, the character that I found myself most drawn to was Special Agent Mason Savoy. Savoy is also cibopathic and is the mentor figure to Chu at the start. There are only three known cibopaths in the world of Chew and the fact that two of them are working together seems destined to give rise to conflict that allows us, the reader, to explore the basic tenets of good and evil.

Aside from Chu's and Savoy's abilities, the other over-arching theme of the series is a global disaster in the form of avian influenza (bird flu) that kills some 23 million Americans and more than 119 million worldwide. The dire predictions at the time suggested such an occurrence was possible. So, it is fun to read about the consequences in this form.

John Layman tells a great story and Rob Guillory's artwork is amazing. Even if I do not teach Chew, I am committed to teaching graphic novels this year, but truth be told I will be arguing for Chew to get the nod. In the end though, no matter what the decision is, I am off to Dymocks tomorrow to see if I can find anymore in the series. I am hooked, and looking forward to what happens next in this storm of a post-avian flu apocalyptic world.

Circumcision in Australia -- Legal?

I was reading an interesting article earlier today and thought it was worthy of a post. Not quite sure how it fits in with my recent posts on alleged Indonesian criminals and the underage marriage and the alleged subsequent abuse of Manohara, I am guessing it doesn't. However, circumcision is something that we have thought about with young Will.

We talked about it with the doctor while we were in Indonesia. I am not sure 'talked about' is the right phrase, as we broached the subject with the doctor and his response was, "no need!" And, that was the end of the conversation. We have not talked about it with the doctor here and to be perfectly honest we have not talked about it between ourselves either.

So, onto the post.

Circumcision was a routine procedure when I was born. Estimates suggest that the rate of circumcision around the time of my birth was somewhere around 90%. Generally, the reasons for the procedure were health based. Simply, it was healthier to be without a foreskin than to be with one. It has only been in more recent times that the argument has moved to the rights of the child, serious questioning of the supposed health benefits of circumcision, and whether the "mutilation" is warranted. I must say that I have never felt mutilated myself and harbor no ill will to my parents for allowing the procedure to be done.

The current rate of circumcision in Australia is about 12%. The numbers are approximate. However, it is suggested that a great number of the circumcisions that still occur are for religious reasons. Religions where circumcision is required include Judaism and Islam.

The debate not only revolves around the physical and health implications of the procedure but also the legal implications. The recent discussion on this point by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute says that the criminal and civil law with respect to circumcision is far from certain, and in fact circumcision may abuse the rights of the child.

Circumcision is the general term in the sense that the mere utterance of the word is recognized by most However, in legal terms, the correct term for where problems may arise is 'non-therapeutic male circumcision'.

The main concerns revolve around the physical loss and then the social and psychological effects of having one's foreskin removed. The issues though are more interesting in that there is some debate as to whether circumcision is in fact an assault or wounding or maybe even grievous bodily harm.

If the argument is accepted that the procedure constitutes any one of the actions noted in the previous sentence, then it is unclear as to whether a parent could in fact provide consent to allow their child to be harmed. Nevertheless, the jury is still out on whether the procedure is in reality something that causes an injury in the strict legal sense.

So, is Will to be circumcised? The jury is still out on this one as well.

This post probably lends itself to a gratuitous posting of a penis picture...but I won't go there.