Puzzle 00: What is really Important?

What is really important? We live in a town with three big schools, and a number of kindergartens, our community which has been flagged as “growth area”, our shopkeepers all want us to “shop local”, our Government wants us to hand over all power and “trust them” while they protect us from danger, 15000 km away from an enemy I only heard of 3 weeks ago. (you guessed right, I don’t focus on mainstream news), because its all a distraction, a smoke screen, while they continue to change laws right here, under our noses.

This editorial, though is not about those things, rather I’d like to ask, what is important to you? I’m hoping you answer, things like Your Family, Kids, Home, Friends, and if these are important to you then I ‘m sure you will find the attached YouTube Video helpful, because it’s about bullying, and it can happen right under your nose if you are not careful. (and with technology it can happen in you own home).

Remember when parents could shut closet doors and check under beds to keep trolls at bay from their children? Well that’s how our parents protected us back then, but there is another danger and we as parents should make an effort to understand how we can protect our children and ourselves from modern trolls?

Kids who are bullying victims are more than twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts and more than two and a half times as likely to attempt suicide as kids who aren’t. Suicide is the third-biggest killer of young people in the United States. (I am not sure what the statistics are in Australia). Girls are at higher risk.

It’s the school holidays, and they are nearly over, have we spent enough time with our children, do we know that they are safe, I don’t think hiding our children away from technology is a solution, rather I think chatting with our children and understanding their needs and the pressures they face is good place to start. http://www.stopbullying.gov

Another good place, is to start right where you are, here in Beerwah, I don’t know about you but I came to live in Beerwah for a bit of land and space so that my children could have a little of what I had growing up though I am not sure that Council is doing the right thing by our children, land sizes are so small, (if you doubt me try and find an acre block), footpaths don’t exist, and there is little for kids to do in town.