Anti-violence plan for children

A Federal Government agency is developing a plan for anti-violence education programs for children.

Libby Lloyd chairs the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and spoke at a seminar in Adelaide last night.

[Why not Violence Against ‘Everyone’ not necessarily just Against Women and their Children - If not then why not? This is supposed to be an article about educating children? Why educate children with a one sided view? Is it okay to violate men? The idea that we should only reduce Violence Against Women and their Children is a Zionist Tactic. Zionists maintain leverage by choosing to focus only on ‘women and children’ because that is how they undermine and divide the community the best. Anyone can search this blog under murder, violence, or domestic-violence and see that women also need help.]

[We are all human beings and to solve any problem like domestic violence then we must go to the ‘root’ of the problem and not try to divide the root of the problem into parts.]

Ms Lloyd says the plan outlines ways to change the way school children think about relationships, to prevent them entering abusive ones later in life.

"As we've gone around the country we've been talking with people about what age that would mean and many are saying high school and then they're saying junior high school, saying university, but we're even into people saying we need to work with playgroups, so we'd be looking at doing a lot around education and better understanding," she said.

"To make sure that we offer perpetrators of violence those sort of services at a very early stage in their lives and this is going down to you know kids bullying in schools, right through to using violence in their homes."

Quote: Pretty much a one sided view though. Perhaps the men should just kill each other and leave the women and children here on earth by themselves? I guess it's okay for parents to smack their children too? Bad lesson! How can children who have been 'reasonably forced' learn by example 'Anti-Violence' from the person they love the most? See link below: Bad lesson! Alienating parents doesn't solve the problem of domestic violence either See link below. Furthermore: Police use violence and so does the military.

You see even authorities have to lead by some form of example and that means no violence NONE. If society really wants to fix the problem. And what about violence in sport? What about violence on TV? When is that going to stop? And what about all the dead civilians in the Middle East?

Clearly there is a violence epidemic in Australia and we have to start asking the question why?

YOU SEE IT IS SOCIETY THAT IS FAILING OUR CHILDREN THESE ARE PARENTS NOT CHILDREN AND SOCIETY HAS TO LEAD BY SOME FORM OF EXAMPLE OTHERWISE THE CHILDREN ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE.

Related:

More women perpetrating domestic violence: statistics

In the 12 months to September 2003 police recorded 4918 women as persons of interest for perpetrating domestic violence. By 2006-07 that had risen to 6056, figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show.

Of the women arrested for domestic violence-related assault in the five years to last September only 32 per cent of the cases reached court, compared with 56 per cent of cases involving men, statistics show.

The bureau's director, Don Weatherburn, said the increase was likely to have been driven by more than one factor. Others could include an increase in binge drinking, or more men who were willing to admit they are victims.

"It's possible that people are becoming less tolerant of violence by females than they used to be," he said. More women are also being arrested for assault not related to domestic violence, which some attribute to a rise in alcohol abuse. Others say women can be as violent as men, and that in more than half of violent partnerships partners struck each other.

Zionist Tactics and Manipulation in Australian Media…..

6) They hide and ignore the real truth.

11) They Divide and Conquer the general public.

12) They MAGNIFY women and children offences to maintain their righteousness and credibility knowing that those who would attack a women or children as in the NT Aboriginal community, and as many media reports;

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia SOME Muslim religious leaders are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and the exploitation of women, a report on imam ... Imams condone rape, violence - report.

We all detest women and child offences but those accused being the 'most unpopular people' can then be undermined 'guilty or not' and mud sticks. But that is why we have a court of law.

Bligh won't budge on smacking code
The Queensland Government says it will not change a controversial section of the criminal code that allows "reasonable force" to be used when disciplining children.

Police arrest a father over access dispute?
In a media report yesterday the ABC reported (see article below), that the police arrested a man over the abduction of children. But were these his children?

Domestic murders hit 10-year high
But when we write our article then we may need to leave out say, the statistics in relation to women who commit 'domestic murders'? That's if we are going to succeed changing public opinon that it's only the men. Another fact is that women don't commit domestic murders? Of course this is just a guess?

Mayor seeks 'truth' over Mulrunji death
The Mayor of Palm Island, off north Queensland, says there are still too many unanswered questions about the 2004 death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee and the events that followed his death.

Torched man's killers get 24 years
Two people have each been sentenced to a minimum of 24 years in jail for burning a man to death in a hotel car park in Adelaide.

Psychiatric care for woman who killed
A Sydney woman charged with the stabbing murder of her father and sister has been found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

Lindstrom's murder plot sentence extended Swedish model
Charlotte Lindstrom's jail sentence for plotting the murder of two witnesses in a drug trial has been extended by at least another year.

Mother sentenced over her children's murders
A Victorian woman convicted of murdering her two sons has been sentenced to 24 years in a psychiatric hospital.

Psychic spirit sex murder accomplice jailed
A woman who helped her de facto husband after he murdered her best friend will spend at least 18 months in jail.

Woman jailed for 24 years for murdering teenage friend
Two Perth women have been sentenced to strict security life imprisonment, with a 24-year minimum, for what a judge has described as the evil and sexually perverse murder of a teenage girl.

Mother who threw baby convicted of manslaughter
A young mother has been found not guilty of murdering her baby daughter, despite admitting she caused the infant's fatal injuries.

On a dusty morning, our tiny Lake Angel finds peace
Two-year-old Dean James Shillingsworth was laid to rest in his father's home town of Brewarrina yesterday, a fortnight after his body was found dumped in a Sydney lake.

Mother found guilty of daughter's murder
A woman has broken down in the South Australian Supreme Court as a jury unanimously found her guilty of murdering her young daughter.

Teens to serve 15 years for 'gruesome' murder of friend
Two teenage girls have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Western Australia for murdering their 15-year-old friend who they then buried in a shallow grave in the south-west town of Collie.

Teens who killed taxi driver jailed
Two teenage girls who killed a taxi driver in western Sydney in January last year, have been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years.

Lawyers struggle to explain teenage murder motives
Lawyers for two teenagers have told the Perth Children's Court experts have been unable to determine why the girls turned into murderers.

Payouts for families of abused soldiers
The families of four young soldiers [diggers] who took their lives after suffering abuse in the army hope that government compensation is a step toward changing Australia's military justice system.

Day police just went too far
A man who challenged the right of police to remain in his home - only to be sprayed with capsicum spray, handcuffed and locked in a cell wearing only boxer shorts - has won his case in the High Court.

Girls gone wild
Women are drinking more and behaving more aggressively. Sonia Harford asks why. Not long ago, the women in Victorian prisons were there largely because of drug or property-related crimes. But that picture is slowly changing, with a rising number of women being convicted for assault and other violent crimes. Police statistics show that the rate of women arrested for crimes against the person - including homicide, rape, sexual assault, robbery and assault - increased from 2005 to 2007.

Court overcrowding 'inviting violence'
The Federal Government has been told that overcrowding at Newcastle Family Court is creating a volatile situation that invites acts of violence.

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter
An Afghan woman who lost family members weeps after air strikes on Friday in Azizabad district of Shindand August 23, 2008. An UN investigation suggested that 60 children were killed in the airstrike. Australian troops are not restoring peace in Afghanistan but working for oil company profits, amongst other things.

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter
On 22 August, 95 civilians were killed by NATO forces, 60 among them
were children. Yesterday 1 September another 70 civilians suffered the
same fate.

Casualties in Afghanistan:
Afghan troops killed: 8,587 Afghan troops seriously injured: 25,761
Afghan civilians killed: 3,485 Afghan civilians seriously injured:
6,273 U.S. troops killed: 534 U.S. troops seriously injured: 1,602
Other coalition troops killed: 402 Other coalition troops seriously
injured: 1,206 Contractors killed: 75 Contractors seriously injured:
2,428 Journalists killed: 6 Journalists seriously injured: unknown
Total killed in Afghanistan: 13,089 Total injured in Afghanistan: 37,270

Casualties in Iraq:
Iraqi troops killed: 30,000 Iraqi troops seriously injured: 90,000
Iraqi civilians killed: 658,227 Iraqi civilians seriously injured:
1,184,809 U.S. troops killed: 4,193 U.S. troops seriously injured:
30,634 Other coalition troops killed: 314 Other coalition troops
seriously injured: 942 Contractors killed: 917 Contractors seriously
injured: 10,569 Journalists killed: 159 Journalists seriously injured:
unknown Total killed in Iraq: 693,810 Total injured in Iraq: 1,316,954

War criminal Howard wants crackdown on school violence?
Discipline is not achieved by cracking down but by teaching better lessons that include self awarness, empathy towards others and insight into offending behaviour. Once more Howard couldn't possibly teach those lessons because he himself lacks all of the above. That's why he asked for a 'crackdown'.

Payouts for families of abused soldiers

The families of four young soldiers [diggers] who took their lives after suffering abuse in the army hope that government compensation is a step toward changing Australia's military justice system.

In a unique move, the federal government on Thursday confirmed it would make confidential ex gratia payments to the families in recognition of the hurt suffered following their sons' deaths.

The case was a long and sad saga, Defence [War] Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said.

"The families are entitled to feel that the death of their sons was partly caused by shortcomings in the defence force system," he said.

"They are of course entitled to feel also that the after events weren't handled all that well in some cases."

Mr Fitzgibbon said it was an ex gratia case which legally set no precedent and would be referred to a more general review of the military compensation scheme.

The families of Private Jeremy Williams, Lance-Corporal Nicholas Sheils, Gunner John Satatas and Private David Hayward, lodged their claims with the federal government in 2005.

Adrian Hayward, father of Private Hayward who took his own life after absence without leave (AWOL) from the army for two months in 2004, said the army did not inform the family his son was AWOL, in breach of army protocols.

Four days after David's 20th birthday in March 2004, the Haywards, from Cobram in Victoria, were told his body had been found at a backpackers hostel in Perth.

"It's not about the money - it's about trying to get a system in place for other children going to the army," Mr Hayward said.

David's mother Wendy said she was certain there were more families in the same situation who feared making claims against the army.

"They bully the parents as well, they threatened us," she said, fighting tears.

"A few days after David died (the army) came in ... and they said to us, 'If you discuss this report with anybody it's a federal offence, you'll go to prison'."

Private Jeremy Williams, 20, hanged himself in Singleton, NSW, on February 2, 2003 after telling his parents he was made to feel like scum because he was injured and had been transferred to a rehabilitation platoon.

His father Charles Williams, from Mt Barker in WA, said his son spoke to his mother about his feelings of worthlessness before he took his life.

Mr Williams said a culture of ostracising injured soldiers went unchecked and continued to occur.

Lance-Corporal Sheils took his own life in 1996, four years after a training accident in which he accidentally shot and killed a fellow soldier.

His father Paul said his son was never the same after the incident.

"The army did not treat him properly, they neglected him proper medical care and he went downhill and on New Year's Eve, took his own life," Mr Sheils said in Adelaide.

The mother of Gunner Satatas, who was found hanged at Holsworthy Barracks, west of Sydney, in April 2003 aged 19, said her son, of Portuguese background, suffered racial abuse and bullying from his superiors.

Rosa Satatas said her son was treated "like a dog."

"The only thing that makes me happy is now, before they mistreat our children, they have to think twice," she said.

Lawyer Emma Hines, of Slater and Gordon, which represented the four families, called for independent military courts, instead of closed military proceedings.

Quote: We don't need a Defence Force. We need a Humanitarian Aid Group that can also defend itself. That takes care of the Bullies and the Lethal Memes in our community as well. Violence, Domestic Violence, Bullying etc all stem from the Military and Police Service that don't lead by any form of example to the wider community. Then how can the Government suggest that they are trying to prevent violence in the community? They can't have their cake and eat it too. They must lead by some form of example.

Assess ambulance chief over bullying: report

A report into the troubled NSW ambulance service today recommended that the CEO, Greg Rochford, urgently meet the NSW Minister for Health, John Della Bosca, to assess his performance after a disturbing inquiry into bullying and harassment in the service.

The draft report into the management and operations of the Ambulance Service of NSW had recommended Mr Rochford be replaced but that was not supported by all members of the upper house committee.

The chairwoman of the committee, Robyn Parker said after tabling the report that the inquiry into the service showed that ambulance management and government had "brushed under the carpet" serious issues affecting the mental health of paramedics for 10 years.

She said there were nine suicides of which the inquiry knew.

She said Mr Rochford appeared to be "completely unaware" of the extent of bullying and harassment in the service.

"He came and said he was saddened and distressed. Well, this has been going on for 10 years," she said.

"I think if this Government ignores this once more I think we will have a terrible situation."

The report also recommended that Mr Della Bosca and the Director-General of NSW Health Debora Picone meet Mr Rochford quarterly to review progress in relation to reducing bullying and harassment in the service and that the progress be reported to Parliament in the same way that the fire and police services are required to do.

Ms Parker said so many officers contacted the committee in a distressed state that a mental health protocol was established to deal with them.

"This inquiry found that management and government had failed to act over 10 years. Dozens of reviews, dozens of reports and ambulance officers [are] still continuing to suffer from bullying and harassment," she said.

"We have a senior management and successive health ministers who want to brush this under the carpet. This report says enough is enough."

But deputy chairwoman Christine Robertson said that government members of the committee did not agree with many of the report's conclusions.

She described the report as "one sided" because it did not recognise the operational change already achieved and because a lot of evidence was confidential.

The inquiry received 261 submissions, twice that of the recent parliamentary inquiry into Royal North Shore Hospital.

A spokesman for the Health Minister said: "The minister already meets with Mr Rochford regularly and they discuss key performance indicators for the Ambulance Service."

He said he had not had the opportunity to read the report as yet.

Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner said the Government must not ignore this report because the service was "stretched to breaking point".

"If the Premier [Nathan Rees] wants to get real he needs to force his Health Minister [John Della Bosca] to act on all of these recommendations as a starting point," she said.

Too many athletes just 'arrogant bullies'

AGGRESSIVE, uncompromising, arrogant, hypocritical, bullies, racist, sexist and violent … they are ways Australian athletes can be described, the sports commentator Tracey Holmes says.

The names of Australian greats Edwin Flack, Marjorie Jackson and Evonne Goolagong Cawley risk being besmirched by "a group of arrogant, alcohol-fuelled bad winners and losers", says Holmes, who will argue the affirmative in tonight's IQ2 debate, "For a sporting nation, we're not very sporting". On her side are the noted cricket writer Gideon Haigh and the Monash University lecturer Brett Hutchins.

Arguing the negative is retired cricket vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, the former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons and the broadcaster Adam Spencer.

Outlining her case Holmes says Australia's lack of sportsmanship is demonstrated in the way we consider our athletes clean and our sporting coaches traitors if they dare take their knowledge elsewhere.

We do not question our Beijing Olympic gold medal winners, she says, but we harbour doubts about Jamaica's 100-metre world record holder, Usain Bolt.

Our blindness may have allowed Shane Warne to try the claim that he failed a drug test because of a diet pill his mum gave him. We are happy to take the expertise of foreign coaches such as Robbie Deans, Guus Hiddink and the diving guru Wang Tong Xiang, yet we hounded Jessicah Schipper's 78-year-old coach for offering his services elsewhere.

Holmes writes that Australian sport has become synonymous with alcohol, saying that 30 per cent of 13-to-17-year-olds drink at sports clubs and footballers' drunken indiscretions no longer shock us.

She points out the national cricket team has never won the Spirit of Cricket Award.

Related:

Alcohol-related hospital visits rise
DRUNKEN female party animals are inundating NSW hospital emergency departments in record numbers.

Brumby confronts booze culture on streets
Victorian Premier John Brumby has toured some of Melbourne's most notorious nightlife strips as his government plots its next move against rising alcoholism and street violence.

Message on a bottle for binge drinkers
BOTTLES of alcoholic drinks could soon carry graphic pictures warning of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption as part of the Federal Government's latest series of measures to cut down on under-age and binge drinking.

Alliance tackles drunken violence
THE TOLL of alcohol-related violence has reached the point where one in five Australians now say they have been directly affected or know someone who has been affected by this type of violence, a new survey shows.

Binge drinking teens: 'two deaths a week'
South Australia's Drug and Alcohol Service says there are about two deaths a week in Australia involving young people who have been binge-drinking.

Calls for binge warnings on alcohol packaging
The Public Health Association (PHA) says warnings about the dangers of binge drinking should be pasted on all forms of packaged alcoholic drinks.

Govt launches veterans suicide study

The government has launched a study to assess how many veterans commit suicide and why.

Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said the study would examine a number of specific cases of suicide by ex-service members in recent years to help identify those members who may be at risk of self harm.

"We know that war service can have both a physical and mental impact on the lives of service personnel. Physical impairment can be obvious, psychological injury is less so," he said in a statement.

"This government is determined to support veterans and ex-service personnel who may suffer psychologically as a result of their service. However to do so we need a better understanding of the incidence and characteristics of suicide amongst this community."

Mr Griffin said the study would be run by epidemiologist and public health specialist Associate Professor David Dunt who is also conducting the recently announced review of mental health services in the Australian Defence [Military-War] Force.

Mr Griffin said his appointment to conduct the suicide study would deliver a more coordinated response to mental health for serving and ex-service personnel.

He is expected to report by the end of the year.

Mr Griffin said the suicide study would be conducted independently of the Department of Veterans Affairs and had been developed in consultation with the National Veterans' Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum.

"We are seeking to better identify those at risk, common contributing factors in recent cases, the incidence of suicide in the ex-service community and whether there is more that government agencies and the medical and allied-health professions can do to support veterans under stress," he said.

Submissions have been sought from members of the veteran and ex-service community. Closing date is October 5.

Suicide soldier's dad compensation wait

Australian soldier Private Jeremy Williams killed himself after being bullied

The father of an Australian soldier who committed suicide says he is tired of waiting for the Federal Government to decide if it will compensate him for his loss.

Private Jeremy Williams took his own life in 2003 after being bullied at the Singleton Army Base.

His family and the families of three other soldiers have spent years seeking an ex gratia payment over the deaths of their children.

Charles Williams says he just wants an answer.

"It is pointed out with respect that this is now the Government of the day's problem and we ... feel that it's a perfectly reasonable request to ask for some form of timeline so that we may have some expectation on when we can obtain some closure on this," he said.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says he is familiar with Private Williams's case and sympathises with his family.

"The incident did occur in my own electorate and I feel deeply for the family," he said.

"It's quite clear that the hearings have demonstrated that Defence had a case to answer and if Jeremy Williams did have a wife and or kids, the compensation would have been paid long ago.

"He doesn't, he doesn't have any dependants and I'm disappointed that the former Government took more than five years to do nothing."

Scared nurses' secret evidence of intimidation

THE bullying of nurses by hospital management is so rife that about a third who gave evidence at the State Government's inquiry into hospitals chose to do so in secret, fearing retribution if they publicly revealed their stories.

Some nurses were too afraid even to be seen seated at the Special Commission of Inquiry into Acute Care Services in NSW Public Hospitals, said Bob Whyburn, a lawyer employed by the NSW Nurses Association support nurses who gave evidence.

The nurses union was so concerned about nurses refusing to come forward due to fears of intimidation by management that it employed Mr Whyburn to attend every one of the 34 sitting days.

"Roughly a third gave evidence in closed session and it's likely that a lot of them did because of fear of retribution, because that was expressed by the others in open hearings," Mr Whyburn said.

"In some hospitals we went to the nurses were so concerned about what might occur if they did give evidence that they didn't even come along and listen to any evidence that was given. They were frightened to be even seen near the commission."

Mr Whyburn said at one hearing at Westmead Hospital, three senior managers reserved the front row and stared down witnesses during their evidence.

"The three of them stayed there all day and scowled."

Marguerite Cullen, who has been a nursing unit manager for almost 30 years, told the inquiry at Westmead on April 10 that nurses who spoke up inevitably experienced "payback". Some nurses cried because of the way they were treated by managers and felt "totally demoralised", she told the inquiry. She also told the inquiry some nurses were too afraid to attend.

"They said, 'It's not worth my job. It's not worth it. The repercussions if I went down there would be too much,"' she said. "They are too intimidated. I find that quite distressing."

Besides bullying and poor morale, nurses complained of poor workplace conditions - heavy workloads, double shifts and wards staffed by too many junior nurses. Some cried while giving evidence.

They also complained about a lack of consultation when NSW Health issued directives that affected their work practices.

The Nurses Association's submission to the inquiry reported widespread frustration and fatigue. Nurses described their hospitals like a "war zone" or being "in the trenches".

"When people become nurses they know it is hard work … but they don't know it is unsafe, that you don't get a break and you are not supported," one nurse said. "Some shifts feel out of control."

The submission recommended an overhaul of policies to prevent and resolve bullying and harassment, saying NSW Health had failed to address a "culture of fear and intimidation embedded throughout the public health sector".

The Minister for Health, Reba Meagher, has been forced in Parliament to defend the Health Department's response to bullying, particularly at Royal North Shore Hospital.

A study conducted by the University of Sydney on behalf of unions for the inquiry showed that 60 per cent of nurses said they were exhausted at work and, within the previous 12 months, 60 per cent had seriously considered leaving.

The inquiry has concluded and the commissioner, Peter Garling, SC, is due give his recommendations by July 31.

Firemen read riot act over heavy-handed police

Missing in action … the banner belonging to the Fire Brigade Employees Union at the demonstration in Hyde Park during the APEC summit last year.

IT BEGAN with two firefighters demonstrating against George Bush's visit to Sydney during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.

Now a feud over the confiscation by riot police of a fire brigade union banner during the protest march has escalated, with a complaint to the Police Integrity Commission, a referral to the NSW Ombudsman and the last-minute intervention of the Police Minister, David Campbell, with a promise to return the missing article.

On September 8 last year the two firefighters, Jeremy Fewtrell and Luke Unsworth, were taking part in the peaceful demonstration in Hyde Park, outside the officially declared APEC zone, carrying the banner while their colleagues carried five union flags.

According to a statement prepared for the integrity commission by Mr Fewtrell, three riot squad officers snatched the banner and flags.

"Luke Unsworth and I were walking quietly away from the area at the time of this encounter and were doing nothing to provoke this attack or draw attention to ourselves," he wrote.

"As we were walking, three police officers set upon us from our rear and surrounded us. Without any introduction or explanation they aggressively demanded the [Fire Brigade Employees Union] banner and flags from me.

"I asked them why this was necessary and the three of them then violently reefed [the banner and flags] from my hands. I was told that if I asked any further questions, they would arrest me. One of the police officers … then took the banners away from the immediate area."

None of the officers was wearing name tags.

The officers told Mr Fewtrell he could collect the banner and flags later that day from the Sydney Police Centre, but they were not available.

The secretary of the NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union, Simon Flynn, speculated that police may have taken the banner as a souvenir. "This is exceptionally bad for the relationship between police and firefighters, who

have historically worked well together in the interests of the public."

Mr Flynn says the head of police internal affairs told him the police "had no case to answer" but had acknowledged the officers had taken the banner and recommended reimbursing the union.

Mr Fewtrell, who was based in several inner-city fire stations at the time of the incident and is now based in Dubbo, said he and his colleagues had been wearing T-shirts that clearly identified them to police as fellow emergency service workers.

"The police seemed pumped up on the day and were clearly spoiling for a fight," he said. "They were disappointed that it did not happen. This incident has made me more wary of dealing with the police."

Mr Campbell, in a letter sent to Mr Fewtrell, praised police for their handling of the APEC demonstrations, but did not answer the question about the whereabouts of the missing banner and flags.

But late yesterday, Mr Campbell said the banner and flags had been found and would be returned next week. "It is unacceptable. There is no doubt the flag should have been located and returned earlier."

Australia: War criminal Howard wants crackdown on school violence?

War criminal prime minister John Howard wants to give more power to teachers and principals to 'crackdown' on school bullying.

But where does he get his credentials? Wars of aggression? Crimes against humanity? Kidnapping and torture? Human Rights violations? What a major problem we have here?

Howard will deliver the second speech in his series called "Australia Rising" today in Sydney, and he says he will outline the government's plans for the education system.

But how are we rising really? Most people would say that Australia has been free falling with crimes against humanity and human rights violations every since Howard came to power.

If leaders don't lead by example then how can they lead young Australians and encourage them not to be aggressive towards each other?

Just like a cigarette smoker telling others they should give it up?

Besides that what has Howard asked for? A crackdown? Now how is a crackdown going to solve the problem of bullying at school?

What about more decent lessons? Conflict Resolution, Communication and a balanced curriculum of Social Skills, Academic Skills, and Technical Skills? That would help fix the problem but a 'crackdown' is just another form of domestic violence perpetrated by an adult.

A crackdown is a judge ordering some form of behaviour and judging people but more social skills are needed. See links.

In his weekly radio address, Howard has flagged school violence as an area that needs greater attention.

"Like all Australians I am very concerned at reports of school violence and disorder," he said.

"Parents would be well served by more information about school discipline, bullying and disruptive behaviour in the classroom."

But it's a pitty we have that coming from a person who knows and has shown no better example in relation to bullying with the war of aggression and the subsequent holocaust in Iraq.

Discipline is not achieved by cracking down but by teaching better lessons that include self awarness, empathy towards others and insight into offending behaviour. Once more Howard couldn't possibly teach those lessons because he himself lacks all of the above. That's why he asked for a 'crackdown'.

Howard should be addressing the International Criminal Court for the destruction of Iraq where he's inherited the over 655,000 dead because of his Coalition of the Killings war of aggression and where he himself has shown no remorse whatsoever for those crimes.

Howard says parents and teachers should be given more information about school bullying.

Does he mean information about 'cracking down'? Well you only get out what you put in Howard and if you put nothing in then don't expect to get anything out!

Howard: "Parents are entitled to expect that their child is safe at school and that teachers are principals have the authority to ensure a strong learning environment," he said.

And parents are also entitled to have their country led by a person who has set some form of example in terms of 'aggression' if that someone is going to tell others what to do?

Mary Bluett, from the Australian Education Union, says Mr Howard is overt stating the problem.

"In fact, our schools are overwhelmingly incredibly safe places," she said.

New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma says the state already provides this extra information to parents.

"It appears to be a case of the prime minister trying to play catch-up after 10 years of neglecting funding for education," he said.

"After 10 years of reducing funding to students and to universities," he said.

Schools need resources, not public disclosure: principals

Primary and secondary school principals say there is a need for more resources to deal with problem students.

Prime Minister John Howard will today unveil a new plan to give parents more information about school discipline, violence and bullying in schools.

But Andrew Blair, president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, says a policy of public disclosure is a simplistic plan that does not address a chronic lack of funding for schools.

"Schools in Australia are crying out for more support in terms of welfare officers, psychologists to work with these young people who need assistance, that's the real issue," he said.

"We are not in a position to help all young people as we would wish, because simply the resources are not there."

State response
The Northern Territory Education Minister says Mr Howard has raised concerns about violence in schools to distract the public from his flagging popularity.

Paul Henderson says it is a sign of a Prime Minister who is struggling in the polls and lashing out on all sorts of issues.

"We had the federal Education Minister in Darwin and all of the state ministers in Darwin for a meeting of education ministers just three weeks ago and if this was such a huge issue of concern for the Prime Minister, for the Federal Government, I would have thought that they would have raised it at that meeting. It wasn't raised," he said.

New South Wales Education Minister John Della Bosca says Mr Howard's move to play a more interventionist role in state education systems is simply an election stunt.

He says the policy idea shows the Prime Minister is out of touch.

"In his home state in New South Wales, every government school already has a discipline policy and and anti-bullying policy and parents get a report on their operations in the annual report of each school," he said.

"John Howard has suddenly discovered in the shadow of an election the prospect of public education."

Victoria's Education Minister John Lenders says systems are already in place to deal with bullying in Victorian schools.

He says Mr Howard is interfering with the state governments.

"The Prime Minister and the Federal Government run no schools, yet they meddle all the time," he said.

"If the Prime Minister was serious about these issues, he'd actually talk to the states about them rather than announce it by press release, so it's all about policy by headline."

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Bullying victim awarded lifetime damages

A teenager has been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, and weekly earnings, after suing the New South Wales Government for failing to protect him from being bullied at primary school.

Benjamin Cox was bullied by an older student at Woodberry Public School near Maitland in the Hunter Valley 13 years ago.

He was six at the time.

On one occasion, the student tried to strangle him, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

His mother reported the bullying to school authorities, but it did not stop.

Mr Cox is now 18 years old.

He suffers from a severe psychiatric condition and is unemployable.

He claimed damages in the Supreme Court, alleging the State of New South Wales had breached its duty of care.

Justice Carolyn Simpson found the school's response was "dismally inadequate".

She said the staff made no attempt to deal with a serious problem, and grossly failed in their duty to him.

Mr Cox was awarded more than $213,000 and weekly earnings for life.

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Of course this report couldn't have come at a better time!

They say, "Justice Carolyn Simpson found the school's response was "dismally inadequate".

But they don't say when she found that out? My guess it wasn't today! John Howard's ABC would like you to think it was?