Waimea Weekly
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Your Community Newspaper
Wednesday 22 August 2012
World’s fastest Mini Page 6
Focus on Farming & RURAL
LIFESTYLE
Page 14 - 16
Bowl champions
Page 21
Adult ‘bullies’ lead the way
Phillip Rollo
Cyber bullying is rife, according to a local internet safety expert, but most of it is coming from adults who then “demonise” kids for doing the same thing. Nelson-based John Parsons held an online safety seminar at Wakefield School last week where he said parents need to take responsibility for their children’s behaviour online and that starts with education. He says the easiest way to eliminate cyber bullying has nothing to do with technol-
ogy, it is about how people treat each other socially, and that includes parents. John says his biggest goal is allowing children to use technology, labelling it a “human right”. John is used as an expert by schools and local police to help educate families and children on how to safely navigate social networking websites. “I think that anyone that wants to impede that opportunity is making a big mistake, we need to support them and let them use this properly,” says John. John has held modules at a number of Nel-
son schools for several years now. Those include Murchison Area School, Enner Glynn School, Victory School, Nelson College for Girls and others outside of the region. The main points covered in the module included identity theft while also debating if schools should be responsible for cyber bullying. All of the environments linked to cyber bullying occur outside of the school, says John. “A lot of their behaviour is picked up at home and brought into school yet there is
a big focus on schools changing that, but they can’t. It has to be raised as a bigger topic. Everyone must take ownership of cyber bullying for the problem to stop.” John says there are also many double standards related to cyber bullying that allow parents to pass judgement on their child’s action but not their own. He used an example of Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuck’s recent treatment within social media. SEE PAGE 3
Kapa haka a first for Appleby
Members of Appleby School’s new kapa haka group practice their pukana with Matua Madsen Elkington. They are Carl Quinn, 5, Astin Knowles, 8, Isaac Calder, 10 and Fynn Roberts, 5. Photo: Andrew Board.
Appleby School children say they are excited about getting involved in their newly established kapa haka group, run by Ngati Kuia tangata whenua Madsen Elkington. School principal Graham Avery says all of the school’s 120 children participate in the group, which extends current in-class lessons and complements the range of extra-curricula activities offered by the school. “This is a great way for the children to be actively involved as they learn more about tikanga and te reo Maori. They really enjoyed the first session and are looking forward to demonstrating their new skills to family and whanau at some stage in the future,” he says. The school had recognised the benefits of a cultural group for some time, and parents were requesting the formation of a group, but it was a matter of finding the right person to teach the children, he says. “We are very fortunate to have Madsen. It’s fantastic to have someone with his skill set to SEE PAGE 2 wheelchairs mobility scooters walker/canes electric beds ands hoists lift assist chairs bathroom solutions incontinence products daily living aids/products
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