Archive for category Education

50,000 people are pretty insecure

by Spock... on 28 June 2010
Categories: Education | Tags: Australian Christian Lobby, Ethics Classes, religion, religious education, The Spock Manifesto

I don’t know what came over me when I subscribed to the Australian Christian Lobby’s RSS feed. I guess part of me just thought that my blood pressure was too low. But thanks to whatever pearl of wisdom lead me to subscribing to their blog, I now get regular updates like this delivered straight to my RSS reader.

A staggering 50,000 people have called on the NSW Government to protect the place of special religious education (SRE) in schools and reschedule the proposed ethics classes to another time slot.

Christians from all major Christian denominations across NSW have signed a petition organised by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) which was tabled in NSW Parliament yesterday.

ACL’s NSW Director David Hutt said today that the overwhelming support for the Save Our Scripture petition should send a clear message to NSW parliamentarians about the need to safeguard the special place of SRE in NSW schools.

You see, the ACL and other religious organisations are feeling threatened by the NSW governments decision to trial ethics classes in state schools in the same time slot as special religious education (SRE) classes. Under the current arrangement in NSW for one hour every week schools hold these SRE classes with leaders of their religions, with various religions being represented. These classes are optional, but there is no option for parents of no faith so kids who do not attend one of these classes are left to do private study for an hour. What this leads to (and presumably what the religions like about this) is kids attending religious classes because there are no other options, even if they are not especially (or even at all) religious.

This is where ethics classes come in.

Ethics classes provide a secular alternative to SRE classes for those kids who are currently attending a SRE class out of convenience or simply not attending any classes for that hour a week. The problem is, apparently, that ethics classes are ‘competing’ with SRE and children are forced to ‘choose’ between the two.

“The Government should not be discriminating against children of faith who will not be able to attend both SRE and ethics. The classes should be run at separate times.”

I have an even better solution. Let’s not run SRE classes in public schools. Then there will be no problem about conflicting schedules.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with children being taught religion in public schools, but only when it’s done with the same scepticism that is afforded politics and history (after all, it really is history and politics). I do not support kids learning particular religious narratives in public schools. If parents want their children to learn a particular religious narrative then those parents should be taking their kids to church and enrolling them in private religious schools, not expecting public schools to offer it to all schools.

Religious education not being offered in public schools is not an attack on religion. I am not anti-religion. Religions are not being discriminated against by not being allowed into public schools and to claim that they are is cynical and disingenuous. The opposite is true. Allowing religious education in schools the way NSW does discriminates against students who do not belong to a religion. Offering secular ethics classes to children is a step in the right direction, but I still don’t believe SRE or ’scripture classes’ has any place in public schools anywhere in the country.

4 Comments

Ads that should meet a gruesome death

by Trevor McDonald on 19 May 2010
Categories: Education, Media | Tags: Aami, ads, shannon noll

Sterben

1 Comment

Silly old buggers

by Ross Sharp on 4 May 2010
Categories: Education, Media, Society | Tags: old farts, teenagers

When I was 14 years old I could read, write, count way past 10 without using my fingers, wipe my own arse, dress myself, bathe myself and conduct a conversation quite often using words of more than 2 or 3 syllables.

Isn’t that remarkable?

I must’ve been gifted.

Henry Robinson is (allegedly) 14 years old. Henry had a Heckler column published in the Sydney Morning Herald today venting his bewilderment at the popularity of Justin Bieber (Henry’s not alone there), and in that column he used some VERY BIG words.

Many of the comments appended to the column express doubt that any 14 year old could possibly compose such a brief essay using such language because as we all know, the human brain is not fully developed until a person is 24 or 25 years old, and anyone under that age is simply a raving fuckwit.

Take 16 year old Jessica Watson, for example. Here she is, tootling about the bloody oceans of the world on a boat all by herself, completely buggering up her life, when, given that 16 is the new 6 in this angst ridden age of perpetual moral panic and hysterical obsession over the tender minds of this generation’s bubble-wrapped babes, she really ought to be at home playing with Barbie dolls and diligently working her way through the complete series of Dora the Explorer on DVD instead.

Now, Steve Fielding’s over 25 years old and dumber than a box of fucking hair, so I think this whole theory about young teens being a little dense and underdeveloped and incapable of formulating a rational thought is as hoary an old lump of bollocks as there ever was.

So, in response to this rubbish that’s forever being flung about, constantly attempting to perpetuate the myth that the young folk of today are all, without exception, as inarticulate and thick as Corey whatshisfuckingname???theonewiththeyellowsunglasses???, my 51 year old self has only 7 words to say …

Just fuck off, you silly old cunts.

4 Comments

A Breef History of Australia by Christopher Abbott, Year 8

by Ross Sharp on 2 March 2010
Categories: Education, Politics, Society | Tags: history

Captain Cook was a noble Englishman who discovered Australia in 1770, and a bit later another noble Englishman called Phillip put a colony here which was made of British people who were sent here because they had pinched some bread and stuff.

When Mr. Cook came here, there were boongs coons niggers Abo’s here who ate their babies and threw spears at him. Also, they ran around without any clothes on which is not right, that’s what pedo’s do.

So when the British people all got here, they killed the pedo boongs coons niggers blacks and told them to stop eating their babies, they should eat a pie instead.

After we became a country we went to some wars, and our greatest acheivment ever was fighting at Gallopy, where we would have won if it weren’t for a bunch of wogs who shot at us.

Then we went to another war, and we won that one because the wogs were dumber and we were smarter.

We didn’t do very well in Viettnam, but that was only because of the chinks.

Our great hereoes are Robert Menzies who was a Prime Minister ages ago, John Howard who was Prime Minister forever, Don Bradman who was very good at cricket, Kerry Packer gave us colour television and Rupert Murdoch who made “Avatar” which is fucking AWESOME X 1,000!!! thohgh my little brother got sick in the Hoyts from all the 3D and threw up over an old lady.

My Dad told me that our country is fucked buggered not going too well actually these days because of all the wogs and chinks we’ve let in. When all the lebo’s were raping Aussie women in Cronulla beach, my Dad went down there and told me that he punched a lebo in the face really hard and blood came out and the lebo ran away. We had pizza that night and Dad let me have a beer which was nice.

Dad told me that once we had a policy to keep all the wogs out, but some communists got rid of that and said we should hug queers and let women kill their babies which is against God who said queers should be put to death.

Anyway, the teacher told me I had to do at least one qwarto page for this essay and now I am at the end, so that’s all I can do about Australian history for now, also Mum is yelling at me to get my fucking arse out to the kitchen because dinner is ready.

On Tuesdays we get Chinese food from Lings, and Mum lets me have some wine from her cask which is nice (fruity lexia it is called).

I really like the mongrel lamb and spring rolls a lot, with the pink sauce.

8 Comments

In a filing cabinet at the tax office

by Scott Bridges on 1 March 2010
Categories: Education, Politics | Tags: student numbers, TFN, Tony Abbott

At least it's not in crayon

4 Comments

Take care. Bye.

by Ross Sharp on 5 November 2009
Categories: Education, Politics | Tags: carers, disability, DOCS, schools

As Prime Minister, I am very much aware, as is everyone in my Government (1) of the enormous sacrifices, the toll, both physical and emotional, that carers, those most selfless and compassionate members of our community, make and endure over the course of their lives on behalf of their severely disabled loved ones.

May I just say this (2).

Whether it is the devotion of a parent or parents to the care of their physically and/or intellectually disabled child (3), or of a wife or husband to their beloved spouse (4), I’m sure all Australians would join with me, and my Government, in applauding your herculean efforts, and pledging our support in doing everything and anything (5) within our power to relieve the everyday burdens, the maintenance and upkeep, the unthinkable stress that you valiantly and bravely struggle with every minute of every day of your lives.

To that end, may I just say this (6).

My Government is determined to work as closely and as thoroughly as is required with the States (7) to do whatever is necessary to address the challenges this issue presents us (8), and arrive at viable, workable and economically sound solutions.

As a nation founded on the core Christian principles of compassion, care and a fair go for all, I can assure you, I can assure all of you, that you are in our hearts, our minds, our souls, and you will not be forgotten.

Thank you. (9)

————————————————

(1) It’s a state issue.

(2) It’s a state issue.

(3) Why didn’t you just scrape, bag and flush the useless lump of spastic trash into the fucking toilet when you had the chance, you dense cunts? It’s economically unviable from a national productivity point of view to keep shit like that alive. Of course, as a Christian, I could not have endorsed such a choice, but you wouldn’t have had to tell anyone, would you? Dickwads.

(4) Try slug bait in the gruel.

(5) Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.

(6) I’m thinking maybe I could visit the home of one of these retards, give mum a pat on the shoulder, bring a box of Huggies, bring the networks, squeeze out a few tears, should play well in the media, take people’s minds off all this coons on boats thing for a bit.

(7) It’s a state issue.

(8) We’ll make a few noises in the run-up to the next election.

(9) Wanna see me light my farts?

6 Comments

AZN RULE OK

by Molesworth on 5 November 2009
Categories: Education, Media, Society | Tags: Asia, Daily Telegraph, languages, LOTE, schools

The Rudd Government has decided to test a bilingual schools programme. One would think teaching children the languages of our closest neighbours might not be a controversial idea, but those people have not reckoned on the almighty power of the Daily Telegraph commenters, whose comments on the matter have been numerous and vivid: