Barnardos Conference November 2008

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An Ode to the demands of a young Teacher......

I just found this from a friends email and it made me smile, so I figured I would share:

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An Ode to the demands of a young Teacher......

"Let me see if I've got this right."

"You want me to go into that room with all those kids and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. And I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits."

"You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self-esteem."

"You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job."I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for their elders and future employers."

"And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card."

"All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books and a big smile!!"

Surely Shirley

Before anybody says it, I wasnt expecting it either. However one never expects when little surprises happen. And lo'behold little Shirley was born.

Ok so she's not real(*covers the childs ears* "sssh dear, the adults are talking")....Shes part of a Bebo application and so she is a "Bebo Baby", of the Bebo Generation David McWilliams will profess no doubt in years to come, when he comes to write about the year 2000 generation.

Now I am sure I had a point to this post and I am sure it will emerge somewhere, for the moment though look at Shirley isnt' she cute? I think she has my eyes and i do like the jacket we picked out for her. Focus on her whilst I find my point.


Anyways yes, babies! It struck me how casually this baby was created, a few clicks here, a little there and you have made a baby with somebody of your choosing. No anxious waiting. No waiting for the right time. No ante-natal classes. No thought. Perhaps I read to deep into this, after all Bebo is only a bit of fun but it is also a major social networking site, at least in Ireland & the UK as well as most of the English speaking world (though laterly being surpassed by Facebook). However I do think that the problem with this "Baby Application" is not the creation of a 'Bebo Baby'-All Children, virtual and real are a blessing- but rather the means to its creation. Perhaps a time limit and a developmental cycle of the child's creation would have been something of merit which should have been considered. Then at least some semblance of reality but also of responsibility with regards the rearing of Children would be realised.

Certainly for me, it will not be a case of *click* Add Application *click* Create Baby. A Child should be a considered option for all and no parent should shirk that responsibility. For as I said a child is a blessing, at all times. Those times may not always be oppourtune but what does it matter. A Child deserves its love and attention and indeed we all crave it. For the time being I will Shirley will get the love and attention she deserves. However I look forward to the day when I have a child of my own with someone whom I am committed to deeply. Until then, I shall wait...



PS if anybody knows of or finds the Man of my dreams, can they forward him along my way sometime soon. Searching can be quiet drearsome at times. :-)

An Ode to the Children of the 80s, 70s & 60s

I must admit this brought a smile to my face. I was born in the mid-80s so alot of this is somewhat relevant. I still maintain however that I am a child of the 90s coz for the first 3 years I was crying and driving my mother insane, then for the next 2 years I was in school early driving my teachers mad. So my childhood memories begin in the 1990s..........Don't believe me....????...You are probably right..wishful thinking. :-)

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According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived...

*Because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
*We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets.
*It was fine to play with pans.
*When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.
*As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
*We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.
*We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
*We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.
*We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
*After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
*We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as
we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.
*We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.
*No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms.
*We had friends - we went outside and found them.
*We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt!
*We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits.
*We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.
*We walked to friends' homes.
*We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
*We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
*We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
*The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually Sided with the law.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them.
Congratulations!

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face:

The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986....
*The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.
*They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.
*For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.
*AIDS has existed since they were born.
*CD's have existed since they were born.
*Michael Jackson has always been white.
*To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.
*They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year.
*They can never imagine life before computers.
*They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard or the Famous Five.
*They can't believe a black and white television ever existed.
*And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smile.
2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.
3. Your friends are getting married/already married
4.You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.
5.When you see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.
6. Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other friends because you think they will like it too...

Yes, you're Getting old!!

Supreme Court makes ruling favourable to unmarried father

The Supreme Court has today issued a ruling favourable to unmarried father ‘Mr G’, in a case concerning the custody of his children.

On New Year’s Eve last, Mr G’s partner, ‘Ms O’, allegedly left the home the couple were sharing with their twin boys.

Shortly thereafter, Ms O left the country and took up residence in the UK.

Mr G then attempted to have his children returned to him.

These proceedings started with a District Court hearing in Trim, Co Meath. Last September, the High Court ruled that the removal by Ms O of the children, and their retention in the UK, was unlawful and ruled the children be returned to the state and to Mr G’s care.

Ms O appealed that decision, and this morning, in an in camera hearing, the judges made a ruling that was favourable to Mr G.

However, the court stressed that this did not determine any issue with regard to custody -this remains to be decided by another court.

Source: Breakingnews.ie