ASHBURTON GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013
NEWS
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ON WHAT’S Drive to stamp out teen bullying
Some tips for the weekend
By Myles Hume Online attacks and a worrying culture of brawling among teenage girls will be part of a focus to crack down on bullying in Mid Canterbury. Safer Ashburton District is set to roll out a community action programme to address bullying in the Ashburton District, looking to provide resources and support the work of schools in dealing with the harmful behaviour. The local organisation recently finished a two-month scoping
document funded by the Ministry of Social Development looking at bullying in the Ashburton District, surveying 176 people aged eight to 20. Safer Ashburton youth consultant co-ordinator Sophie Jones headed the first investigations of its kind in Mid Canterbury, and quizzed local youngsters about what forms of bullying were present, why people were bullied, how bad it was and what could be done about it. “Some of the trends we found was that social media was a common place for bullying, with lots of people spreading
rumours, talking about people publically with or without their knowledge,” Ms Jones said. Ask.fm, a social media site that encourages users to write anonymous comments, was also of high concern, with some people “putting themselves out there” in a dangerous manner. “Physical bullying is still a big one, and there’s been an increase in young women brawling, that’s something that’s been identified recently,” Ms Jones said. The year nine year-group also emerged as one of the worst for bullying, as they tried to estab-
lish their place in the school, Ms Jones said. She said the next step was to spend the next 10 months looking to reduce bullying and how to deal with it, with the input of an advisory board made up of local youth who would report to the co-ordinator of the programme, yet to be appointed. “I think it’s important to see what’s happening locally and actually talk to young people. A lot of the time decisions and resources are made by adults and that doesn’t always work,” Ms Jones said. Although it was too early to say
what projects would be put in place for the bullying reduction programme, teens had already put ideas forward. A Facebook resource booklet or smart phone app educating users on privacy settings and appropriate use, a pop up “asking people if they really want to post something” online, as well as a mentoring programme with appropriate training, were all ideas of local youth. Safer Ashburton District general manager Kevin Clifford said they would look to support schools in dealing with bullying. “No, it doesn’t mean schools
aren’t coping at all, in the school environment schools have their programmes, but teens spend most of their time out of the school environment, it’s just getting that consistent messaging across.” Ashburton College principal Grant McMillan said he was supportive of the programme, and praised the community organisation for tackling the issue head on. “The more the community lines up alongside teachers and parents the better, because it means we are working on this together,” he said.
Hepatitis A vaccinations pass 100 More than 100 people have been vaccinated against hepatitis A after an outbreak in Ashburton. Dr Ramon Pink, Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, said yesterday’s clinic was held after a child from a kindergarten was diagnosed with the illness. The preschooler belongs to an Ashburton family with four confirmed cases. A fifth person, with close links to the family, has also been confirmed as having the illness. Vaccinations were provided to every child who attends the kindergarten, relatives at risk, and staff. Friends who have been in contact with the family were also offered the vaccine. Early symptoms of hepatitis A infection can be mistaken for the flu, and some people, especially children, may have no symptoms at all. It can result in a mild illness lasting a few weeks, or a severe illness lasting several months, with symptoms including fever, jaundice, anorexia, nausea, abdominal discomfort, malaise, and dark urine. “Hepatitis A is transmitted by not washing your hands properly after using the toilet, which makes hand washing key to preventing the spread of viruses and other bugs,” Dr Pink said. “Preschools can be a high risk environment for the spread of hepatitis A, particularly where there is nappy changing. “It’s so important that people wash and dry their hands thoroughly, particularly after toileting, and before and after eating or preparing food. It only takes a minute but can make a huge difference to your health.” It is the second vaccination clinic in Ashburton in as many months - 60 people were vaccinated after another outbreak in May. In April more than 150 people associated with a preschool in Linwood, Christchurch, were provided with the vaccination. - APNZ
Museum helps Shortly after hosting a successful “Canterbury Quakes” touring exhibition, the Otago Museum is donating $10,000 to help with the restoration and storage of earthquake-damaged heritage artefacts in Canterbury. The funding will help support the work of the Canterbury Cultural Collections Recovery Centre, which has been established in a new extension building at the Air Force Museum in Wigram, Christchurch. The building is being used temporarily to provide secure premises for Canterbury heritage artefacts, some of international significance. - APNZ
Saturday: • College v Lincoln The Ashburton College 1st XV chase history, looking to make the top eight of the Crusaders Secondary School rugby competition for the first time if they can beat Lincoln High School. Midday kick-off at the Allenton rugby grounds. • Finals footy Rakaia host two-time champions Lincoln in the Combined Country Cup rugby semi-finals at the Rakaia Domain, 2.45pm kick-off. • Full house hockey All four senior sides play at home in the Mid-South Canterbury Hockey competition on Saturday. the Hampstead ladies kick things off at 12.30pm against Timaru Girls followed by Wakanui Black up against Cambridge at 2.30pm, Tinwald take on Northern Hearts at 4pm and at 5.30pm Wakanui Blue meet Excelsior. • Mt Hutt Ski Area opens for the 2013 ski season.
Sunday: • The Colour of Light An Art Exhibition by Jen Dearborn and Susie Millichamp, The Colour of Light, is on at the Methven Heritage Centre, open to the public. • Monthly music meet The Mid Canterbury Country Music Clubs’ monthly Club Day starts at 2pm at the Ashburton Club and MSA. Everyone welcome to come along and enjoy a great afternoon of entertainment.
Out of town:
Photo Kirsty Clay 120613-KC-029
• All Blacks at AMI The All Blacks opened the three test series against France with a 23-13 win at Eden Park and will lock to lock up a series win in Christchurch at AMI Stadium (Addington) with kick-off at 7.35pm.
Ashburton highland dancers (from left) Lucy Moore, 10, Megan Harrison, 9, Britney Moore, 12, Brianna Sloper, 8, and Charlotte Sloper, 10, show the spoils of a weekend of dancing success. The five competed in Christchurch and all won Canterbury West Coast centre championships, while Britney also won a South Island under 16 championship, even though she is only 12.
Foreign students earn credits in English By Myles Hume An encouraging number of students who have English as a second language are showing interest in a ground-breaking course soon to start at Aoraki Polytechnic. The polytechnic’s Timaru campus will be the first education provider in the country where students can study towards what will be six nationally recognised English qualifications, starting next month. Acting chief executive Alex Cabrera said they initially intended to start the course in May, but decided it would fit
better starting in the second semester, coinciding with the beginning of other courses. He said there had been significant interest in the course, which will set a precedent for schools and other language education providers around the country. “We are encouraged by the enquiries we have received for the new English qualifications, particularly from migrant workers,” he said. Aoraki Polytechnic English language programme co-ordinator Craig Courtis has worked for two years to set up the New Zealand Certificate in Language at the polytechnic.
In April, he said there were about 300 different qualifications available to English language students in New Zealand, which made it difficult for students and employers to compare the effectiveness of the programmes. However, across the country, that would soon be cut back to Mr Courtis’ six New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) recognised qualifications. Aoraki Polytechnic’s Timaru campus will be the first to implement the standards, which would be available to Ashburtonions who could catch the polytechnic’s daily bus to Timaru. The qualifications would be avail-
able to both international students and those living in New Zealand as residents or who recently moved to the country, for whom English is not their first language. Because they are also NZQA standard it means domestic students have access to student loans and allowances, something that was not available in the past. Mr Courtis was also asked to by NZQA to work with other institutions across the country as a “consistency assessor”, meaning he will assess moderating materials and programmes to ensure it is the same across the board.
On the couch: • Warriors on a roll The New Zealand Warriors are on a roll after picking up three consecutive wins for the first time since July 2011 and have a genuine chance to make it four straight wins before the bye round against the high-flying Roosters. Live on Sunday on SKY Sport 2 from 8.30pm.
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