It’s Australia Day Mate

Today is Australia Day and I am reposting this article from my Child Protection: Serious Business site. In the Australian state that I live in, Protective Behaviours are embedded into school curricula and across all key learning areas. Therefore, I have considered it appropriate to share this post with home school families who may be looking for some material on Protective Behaviours or Personal Safety. For some home school activities on protective behaviours visit Toys, Books and Games Protect Kids.

We Aussies celebrate Australia Day as a public holiday, have barbeques, go to the beach, watch or participate in sporting events or gather with family and mates and eat meat pies, lamingtons and pavlova. Australia is so much more than Meat Pies, great beaches and Kangaroos though. Australia is all about protecting our environment: including the environment of people and especially children.

On January 26, 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales and became its first Governor. This day flagged the foundation day of the new colony, the new world, Australia.

Australia is a harsh land. The cruel sun and elements have made Aussies tough, survivors, resourceful and tenacious. Our isolation led to ingenuity and leadership. Although quick to cut down those Aussies that we consider, “tall poppies” we also pride ourselves on the concept of being a "true blue" mate.

Mateship is integral to the Aussie way of life. We look out for our mates and give them a hand when required. Is this the reason then that Australians have adopted, adapted and take seriously protective behaviours? We want to protect our mates.

Although the original protective behaviour program dealt specifically with child sexual abuse, Australia is responsible for widening the program to ensure that we look out for all community members needing protection from any element of harm. The Aussie way of life co-exists in many risk-taking situations: the beach with its sharks, crocodiles or surf, the outback with its snakes and spiders, the gum treed bush with its propensity to flood, drought and bush fire, and the cities with its pull of escaping to the wild colonial landscape. Add to this crime, fear of crime and the lessons we have learnt from other densely populated countries and my view is that Australia has got it right with their all encompassing protective behaviour programs and their views of looking out for our mates.

Happy Australia Day mate. How about you help us celebrate by enacting our mateship values. Look out for the people in your neighbourhood, apartment block or family. Engage in some protective behaviours and help keep the world’s children safe. Lend a child a hand, a smile, ring the authorities about that public playground equipment that needs fixing, report child abuse if you suspect it is happening.

Imaginif is about to launch the world’s biggest on-line child protection conversation and we hope that you will join us. The more mates we have, the quicker the world will understand that child protection IS serious business.

Some other blogs about Australia Day if you’re interested:
G’day Mate. Australia Day, true blue!
A nation of bonzer cringers?
Australia Day 2007
Google vs Microsoft on Australia Day
Australia Week. G’day LA and NYBest vacation destinations
The story of a great Australian woman.

Internet Games or Educational Resources

Boy (he does not ever want his real name used on the internet) loves internet games. His favorite is World of Warcraft. Skeptical at first, partner and I spent considerable time researching and evaluating the educational resource value of it. Happy that it provided a degree of learning and internet skills to an already socially impaired child, we bought it, and a lap top for Boy.

Eager to instill self-performance evaluation, I have asked Boy to tell us all what is educational about playing World of Warcraft and what he has learnt. This is his analysis in his own words:

1. It’s got math and reading and spelling in it. I write words and when I don’t know a word I ask you. (Note from Boy’s Mum: HUGE leaning has happened here.)


2. I learn tactics. I level up after I’ve learnt good tactics.
   
3. I have friends that I play with. I like meeting and battling with them. Some of them I know from school. I can meet up with real people in World of Warcraft. When I see them in real life, we talk about leveling.
   
4. I have to be patient when the patches are downloading. I go and play a different game then. (Note from Boy’s Mum: For a child with Asperger’s, developing patience is HUGE learning.)
   

Canvassing our friends, I was amazed to discover that far more Mums than Dads play World of Warcraft. Their reasons for playing were similar to our concerns about child safety and educational resource value. The Mums appear to have been proactive in actually trialing the game with their kids, became hooked themselves, and now battle on in-between school, work, caring, and housework. Good for them! I know they are also looking out for Boy.

We have had two difficulties with dubious players. Sorry guys. You picked the wrong Mum to pull that stuff on. Congratulations to World of Warcraft for being on it immediately.

World of Warcraft is here to stay and will be an educational resource for our home schooling curriculum and a social skill trainer for our child with Asperger's.

A few external reviews on World of Warcraft:

World of Warcraft - Do You Know What PvP is?
Gamespot World of Warcraft review.
Blizzard of GLBT gaming policy questions.

What sort of internet games do you use as an educational resource?

Home School Decision Delivered this Friday.

Friday morning is our agreed day to tell boy child that we have decided on full time home school him next year. Last night partner and I sat in candle light around the edge of our home school classroom and reached consensus that boy will hear our decision but also invited to have input. I know that he will jump at the chance to be full time home schooled.

Extra curricula activities will be built into the home schooling day. He currently goes to a marshal art class (Kendo), robotics and laser tag. He learns so much from his active participation that we plan to increase this preferred way of learning. His love of collecting stones will become home school focused by him joining the Lapidary club and learning from non-authoritarian adults who share the love of stones, gems and jewelry making. We are also considering an art class for him and possibly a speech and drama class.

Library skills are an area he requires much assistance with. Our local library is BIG, full and too much for him to handle. As an author, I have contact with the senior children’s librarian and I am going to ask her if it is possible to give boy a tour after the library is closed. Partner works with some environmental engineers and scientists who do groovy field trips to count bugs, wildlife, measure distances and natural structures, etc. They have invited partner and boy along to assist with the counting. We are going to accept their invitation.

Over our fears, we are looking forward to starting home schooling for our child with Aspergers. We both now have our heads around how to set lesson plans to capitalize on natural learning and teachable moments. We are excited, positive and relieved.