Water safety or water play
January 31, 2008 by Megan Bayliss · 4 Comments
Much of Australia has been crippled by the worst drought in white history. Recent heavy rains have resulted in extensive flooding and the death of stock, crops and farming lifestyle. What the drought didn’t get, the rain and floods did.
Safety warnings to keep children out of flooded rivers, drains and dams prevail. Water safety, even on one of the driest continents in the world is paramount. It would seem that for a smart and dry nation, we are pretty dumb and wet behind the ears at times. Nightly news images of people swimming in flooded, dangerous creeks sends shivers up my spine.
Children will swim if there is an expanse of water available to them….with or without adult supervision. Not only is it a playful and fun thing to do, splashing about in water is also a way to learn about what happens when humans and water mix.
Play is children’s work. Through supervised protective play, children learn important safety lessons that will stay with them their entire life. What are you teaching your children about water safety and water play? Do you place importance on water safety or do you just have swimming lessons because that is what every other parent does? Oh how boring, somebody save me from suburbia please.
Keeping up with the Jones’ is not child safety. Keeping up with the Jones’ will not keep your children safe. Spending time with your children, exposing them to water play, modelling the importance of water safety and the “Kids Alive do the five” rules is what can help make the difference between drowning and staying alive.
Below is a delightful picture of four Australian Aboriginal children; desert children from the centre of Australia, at play in a makeshift pool. Unfamiliar with swimming styles, fashion or the safety rules of swimming that middle class white Australia holds dearly, the desert parents of these children have made their kids safe without even realising they were enacting protective behaviours for water safety. Congratulations to those Mums and Dads. They have captured a teachable moment around water safety, prepared a safe swim area and they are there watching and supervising. Won’t you also learn from our desert Aboriginal people? They have more survival knowledge and common sense than you and I put together.
Thank you to the wonderful children and parents who allowed this photograph to be used on this website. My payment is to 
send a copy of this article to Heather Smith (nurse photographer pictured with one seriously cute baby) and to then print four copies of the photo to send to each of the children. Give the kids a boost of esteem – leave them a message and tell them how adorable they are.
My message: You fellas stay safe now, eh. Remember, our nose can’t breath under that water and that water is big time stronger than us. You too gorgeous and I say thank you for letting me see you swimming and use your photograph.
Play is children’s work. Cooking a nutritious meal for the kids is Mum’s job – go Anna
Can you see the Goanna (ngingtaka) that the Aboriginal mother is chasing? Bush tucker tastes so much better than McDonalds. Goannas can swim too but you so do not want to be in a Goannas way when it’s trying to swim across the river!
Australia Day edition of the Carnival of Australia
January 30, 2008 by Megan Bayliss · 6 Comments
Welcome to the January 30, 2008 edition of our
Australia Day
fair dinkum Carnival of Australia.
Australia Day is a public holiday Down Under. We Aussie bloggers must have taken the day off to write some bonza posts because this Australia Day edition of the Carnival of Australia is chockers with new mates. Welcome to you all. It has been lovely getting to know some of you over at the new beaut Aussie Bloggers forum and blog.
I always begin my hosted Carnivals with a post from the previous host. This is my mark of mateship and sharing of the Aussie values of inclusion and respect. So, here’s to Sue, cheers: Are you intel(ligent) enough to know what Qassia is? I wasn’t but thank goodness I know people who are! The wonderful Sue over at Blogging Sueblimely provides us a delightful tutorial of technological explanations around, What is Qassia.
Let’s begin so we can end (he he, that’s my Irish ancestry coming through there) – we are happy little Vegemites because we blog about all manner of things:
Des Walsh presents A Forum for Aussie Bloggers and Friends posted at deswalsh.com, saying, “On Australia Day I reflected on the value to me and others of online forums such as the new Aussie Bloggers Forum. i also wrote another post wishing my Indian friends a happy Republic Day (same day).”
Lightening presents Australia Day Giveaway posted at Lightening Online. If you have kids, or you like freebies, have a squiz at this Aussie giveaway.
Colin Campbell presents At the Cricket posted at Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, saying, “Australia Day Test Match Day One, some photographs and some thoughts.”
Mad goat lady presents I am proud to be an Australian. posted at Mad Goat Lady.
Chris presents My favorite new Commercial …Commonwealth Bank: Anthem posted at DropKick MonKey.
Duncan Macleod presents Bonds Wear Australia posted at Duncan’s Print, saying, “An advertising campaign for the Bonds Chesty singlet uses photographs of Australians from many walks of life. The campaign encourages Australians to ‘Wear Australia’ on Australia Day, and donate funds to life saving skills in primary schools.” An excellent initiative. I wore Australian, did you?
Suzie Cheel presents Aussie Bloggers Celebrate posted at The Abundance Highway, saying, “A good Aussie picnic and BBQ by the beach”
Samuel Bryson presents Kangaroo Meat – Good For You AND the Environment: posted at Total Wellbeing.
Leigh (from Imaginif’s sistership site) presents “But what can I do?” – ten ways you can support conservation efforts in your local area posted by Aussie blogger Kay over at All for Women. Who loves toads? Not me!
Megt presents Aussie Burgers posted at Dipping into the Blogpond, saying, “We ate these Australia shaped burgers!” lol, oh Meg, when I was cooking the leg of lamb I was wishing I’d gone for the Aussie burgers. How hot is it to cook a roast?????!!!! I must have the surf in my head. Who ate Tasmania?
Michelle Sweeney presents You Know You’re Living in Australia… posted at Tonic Gifts.
Micellaneous Mum presents Introducing the new members of our family. All 1500-odd of them posted at Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum, saying, “Proving worm farming is sexy….well, interesting……well…something!” Don’t worm your way out of reading this post. Misc Mum is hilarious. I love her.
Kathie Thomas presents Garden growing posted at Kathies Garden.
Riayn presents The Importance of Desexing Your Pet posted at Petulance, saying, “An article about desexing that explains what the surgery involves and the health and behavioural benefits to your pets”
Gavin R. Putland presents Right and wrong ways to abolish taxation posted at /etc/cron.whenever/.
Aussie Investor presents ASX Website – A Wealth Of Free Information posted at Australian Investing, saying, “If you’re looking to invest in Australia, either as a local or from overseas, the ASX website is a great place to start. This article looks at some of the things you will find on the ASX website.”
Sue (aka Megan’s mother) presents Amazing endurance! posted at Spasmodic Dysphonia, saying, “Men survive lightning strike – who said lightning doesn’t strike twice!”
Peter Jones presents Native Title Claims and Australian Indigenous Aboriginal People posted at Indigenous Issues Today. Peter, very interesting and highly pertinent on Australia Day. Many Aussies forget our black Australian history and what white settlement did to Indigenous people. Thanks for joining our Carnival.
Carole Fogarty presents Detox your money worries: Free wealthy habits calendar: posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “The free wealthy habits calendar is created by fellow Aussie, Fionna and its all about changing old expensive habits for smarter, cheaper and greener ones one small habit at a time. Lots of great ideas and tools including the save-o-meter to keep track of your savings.” Wonderful idea and I’ll be playing with this. Thanks Carole.
Gillian Polack presents Food History posted at Gillian Polack. Welcome Dr Gillian. Loved your blog.
Samuel Bryson presents The Philosophy of Happiness – Accepting Yourself posted at Total Wellbeing.
D Robinson presents Sign the Petition to ‘Stop Stoning Forever’ in Iran posted at Australian Women Online.
Craig Harper presents Moving Beyond Instant Gratification. posted at Motivation – Renovate your life with Craig, saying, “Have you ever witnessed someone who is obese, depressed about their lack of health and fitness, embarrassed by their appearance and ‘allegedly’ desperate to lose weight, stuff themselves with junk food on a regular basis?”
Keran from Birdwing Therapies gives us Depression and Mental Health. Well, she doesn’t give us depression…she presents an article on Depression and mental health! Thanks Keran. Do you also know about the Carnival of Depression and Mental Health Down Under. May be another place to get your posts into.
Evan from Holistic Health gives us a much needed Aussie warning: Four Simple, Little Things to do for Big Health Benefits. Thanks Evan. My blood pressure is high and only has been since I’ve been blogging….umm, interesting (I’m not getting enough exercise). Take note all you Norm and Nancies (far out, I’m really showing my age now – Duncan McLeod, how old is the Norm campaign?) in couch land.
- we have formed a sistership
- our forums have merged
- our first joint project is the Teddy Tour: a moving display of teddy bears, each representing, and wearing a story tag from, a person affected by child sexual abuse.
That concludes this Australia Day edition of the Carnival of Australia.
I’m going back to stumble all of your articles. Thanks so much for carnivalling with us.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Australia using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Next fortnight we’re back with Colin in Adelaide and eating Green porridge at his home cafe.
Hoo roo cockatoo!
Technorati tags: carnival of australia, blog carnival.
Forum merge with All for Women
January 28, 2008 by Megan Bayliss · 2 Comments
Imaginif Safety Talk forum has now merged with All for Women. Some posts were lost in the move but the history remains at Imagifif. Over the next few days I will cut and post the major threads over to our new Safety Talk with Imaginif board.
There are going to be some changes to the Imaginif website. Much of the information will come across to the blog and our forum is going to be a closed, peer supervision forum for child safety and child protection related workers. Please contact me if you are interested in partaking in peer supervision in this way. There will be a one off join fee, although all of Megan’s current supervisees will be joined up for free.
Workers in the child safety / child protection field will utilise the Imaginif forum when it is revamped. Everyone else (including workers if they so choose) will join Safety Talk with Imaginif at All for Women.
Thank you, kudos, best blog karma and eternal grattitude to the amazing young Leigh at All for Women.
Internet Safety Gets A Boost On MySpace
January 27, 2008 by user2 · 2 Comments
Internet safety gets a boost this month. MySpace, “the place for friends” is working hard to distance itself from being identified as a place for pedophiles and pornography. While we know dangers to children online lurk everywhere, the new legislation in the U.S. targets MySpace in particular.
We think it will help. Here’s what happened. On January 14 all 50 Attorneys General signed a document under which MySpace agrees to make several changes. The changes are primarily for protecting the younger kids, the minors who are members.
Some of the things MySpace has agreed to do include:
• improving software that identifies underage users
• allowing parents to send their child’s e-mail address to the site so MySpace can restrict the child from signing in
• creating a closed “high school” section that makes it harder for adults to contact children
• dedicating resources to educating children and parents about internet safety
There are additional things they will do that include preventing the site from harboring child pornography rings. This will occur by MySpace obtaining and constantly updating a list of pornographic web sites and regularly severing any links between them and MySpace. MySpace is also retaining a contractor to identify and eliminate inappropriate images.
Did MySpace step up and do all this willingly? No. It strictly comes from the pressure of Federal prosecution. Several states have been seeking to sue MySpace using a lawsuit that attacked the tobacco industry for marketing a dangerous product to kids as precedent. While MySpace relented under this threat, the changes for our kids are a positive thing. Who cares today why they are making the changes. Its great they are.
For now, these changes are just for MySpace. We all know it is not the only social networking playground for pedophiles. It is just the most visible in the news. It is not any more dangerous than other social networking sites, it just gets more use with its 100 million visitors.
Be smart as a parent with your child. They can be safer online if you, the parent are smart about teaching them the basics of online safety. If you’re completely trusting on the internet, no matter what your age, you’re endangering yourself and your child.
The old adage, “Better safe than sorry” is a good rule of thumb when on the web. And, there many better ways at safety than making more laws. However, when people are aware they’re less likely to be targets. While mandated, this has got to have a positive impact on safer kids online. No matter what states, officials or MySpace do , the most important thing for you is parental guidelines, rules and controls for your child online.
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Keeping Kids Safe is a comprehensive personal safety program covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their world for their entire lifetime. Their entire APPROACH to total child safety is UNIQUE. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids. For more information go to . www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.
Mentoring young people in and from foster care in Australia
January 27, 2008 by Lisa · 2 Comments
I have recently had the privilege of getting to know Carissa Neal. In a sense, she and I are sisters, since we both have experienced being in foster care.
Carissa is originally from New South Wales. She comes from a background of abuse and neglect.
When Carissa was nine years old, she ran away from home, taking her little brother with her. She tied her hands to her brother’s with a piece of string, so that she wouldn’t lose him.
Foster care saved her life.
Carissa reports that, “There was love and attention. I went to school. I was cared for, emotionally and physically. Most importantly, I was given a chance to be a normal child.”
One of Carissa’s many strengths is her sunshine personality. Her life motto is: “You can’t change your past, but you can change your future!”
When Carissa aged out of care, she entered an independent living program on the Central Coast. She was unprepared for financial independence. She had never been taught about budgeting, credit reports or setting up payment plans for bills. She didn’t have medical insurance, and wasn’t sure how to handle the expense of visiting a dentist when her wisdom teeth came in…
Fortunately, Carissa is skilled at problem-solving, and willing to consult with other people and listen to their ideas. She was equipped by one of her foster parents to make a list of pro’s and con’s while making big decisions.
The faith Carissa has in herself and her abilities, combined with the emotional investment that other people built into her, has undoubtedly contributed to the success that her life is today.
Memories of the challenges that she faced during her childhood and during her transition to adulthood only serve to fuel Carissa’s passion to reach out to other people. She is recently married, after a three-year engagement, and hopes to become a foster parent someday.
Here are some of the ways that Carissa has contributed to the lives of others:
1. Leading focus groups of young people for Streetwize Communications, a national not-for-profit agency that researches and communicates social issues to young people.
2. Serving as a Young Consultant for CREATE for the past six years and assisting with the training of other Young Consultants.
3. Training foster parents and caseworkers.
4. Giving speeches at forums and dinners about her foster care experience
But that’s not enough for Carissa – she wants more!
Her goal is to start a mentoring group in Australia for young people in and from foster care… Foster care mentoring models have had a positive impact in the United States and the United Kingdom.
If you are willing to support Carissa’s efforts, please email her at: carissa@inspire.org.au
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