King Island Youth

Naked Buttocks

2010-07-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you who came her to be offended by naked tattooed buttocks and are now a bit disappointed, don't worry, you can still be offended by them here.

Last Cartoon For The Week

2010-07-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Enrol Now

2010-07-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

The election is looming so it's time to get your act together because once the election is called you won't have much time to enrol...and if you're not enrolled you don't have a say. Go here to get involved.

If you're already enrolled and want to check your details then go here.

This week we are profiling Iron Man Abbot. Here's a photo to help you remember why voting is so important.

Next week, Julia G.

In yo face

2010-07-01T23:48:00.000-07:00

ABC Q&A’s Get Enrolled Video Competition

2010-07-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

The Federal Election is coming and we want everyone to have their say.

But only those who are registered on the electoral roll can vote. Are you on the roll?

We’re looking for witty, clever videos which encourage voters to get on the roll or get their enrolment up to date before the election. triple j’s Tom and Alex had a go but we know that you can do better!

Our high powered judging panel will choose the video we think sells the message and award the maker a $1000 cash prize and a screening on Q&A.

Check out the terms and conditions of our competition here and check out how to enrol here.

Remember – you’ve got to enrol if you want to vote and you’ve got to enter if you want to win.

The Competition opens on 21 June 2010 and closes on 4 August 2010.

Condom Tin Competition!

2010-07-01T23:35:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago you were invited to design a condom tin and the winners have been announced.

If you come from King Island and you entered the competition then I'm sorry to say you were not successful.

For more information see below.

The Australian Government’s condom tin design competition winners have now been chosen from an overwhelming response of more than 500 entries by over 7,000 valid votes and celebrity judges. Standouts from this enormous pool were Brisbane local Alex Naghavi, and Canberra resident Vladimir Zokic.

The competition, aimed at young people around Australia, is part of the ongoing National STI Prevention Program: Sexual Health Campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the risks of infection and encourage safe sexual behavior, including using condoms and seeing a doctor about testing after unprotected sex.

To encourage condom carrying, we asked young people to design a condom tin that would appeal to their peer group. This competition aimed to build on the achievements of the campaign by encouraging interaction and participation from the target audience and further promotion of campaign messages.

Our two winning entries were chosen by a panel of judges who include visual and performing artist Ben Frost, pop, rock and dance music band Bluejuice and dating, sex and relationships commentator, Samantha Brett.

Alex is a keen Designer who entered the competition to illustrate that condom use is an equal responsibility for both men and woman.

Vladimir enjoyed using his creative flair to become involved in an important initiative for all Australians.

Alex’s and Vladimir’s designs will go into production shortly. Register your interest in receiving information about where these tins will be distributed by going to the website – www.australia.gov.au/sti

School's Out

2010-07-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

On Monday of this week we were lucky enough to have Michael Colling from School's Out come back to the island.

Here's a picture of him with his 'faux hawk' (as described by a Grade 10 student)

Michael was exploring what it means to be a man with the boys from Grade 9 and 10. Topics included communication, body image and anger management which might make it all sound a bit boring but it was quite the opposite.

Thanks to the Regional Primary Health Service for funding this excellent program and thanks to Michael for giving up nearly three days of his holiday to come to King Island. I hope the cheese made it all worthwhile!

The Temper Trap - Love Lost

2010-06-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Fun music video.

Facebook Privacy

2010-06-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

As National Cyber Security week starts today I thought I'd do my bit and pass on a link to some information about Facebook.

Facebook has been in the news quite a bit recently and some people seem surprised when they find out their photographs or comments may not be private. The best thing to do would be to only upload what you feel happy with your Granny or a future employer seeing but if you really must show your mates a photo of your bum-hole adorned with a tattoo of your favourite old skool video game then take a look at these tips for protecting y our privacy on Facebook.

It may seem like a good idea right now but who knows how you'll feel about in the future.

National Cyber Security Awareness Week 6–11 June 2010

2010-06-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

National Cyber Security Awareness Week is an annual initiative of the Australian Government held in partnership with industry, community and consumer groups and state and territory governments.

It is designed to raise awareness among Australians of cyber security risks and simple steps they can take to protect their personal and financial information online.

National Cyber Security Awareness Week 2010 is from 6 to 11 June. It will promote six easy tips for better online security:

1. Install security software and update it regularly.
2. Turn on automatic updates so that all your software receives the latest fixes.
3. Get a stronger password and change it at least twice a year.
4. Stop and think before you click on links or attachments.
5. Stop and think before you share any personal or financial information?about yourself or your friends and family.
6. Know what your children are doing online. Make sure they know to stay safe and encourage them to report anything suspicious.

Around 140 partners will promote the messages of the Awareness Week through activities online and events in regional and metropolitan Australia.

For more information, or to get involved in the week, please contact:

Cyber Security Section
Department of Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy
GPO Box 2154
Canberra ACT 2601

Tel: 02 6271 7095
Fax: 02 6271 1827
Email: onlinesecurity@dbcde.gov.au

Young Writers!

2010-06-01T17:03:00.001-07:00

The John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers 2010 is now open for entries.

$5500 total prize money and publication in Voiceworks and on the Express Media website.

Two age categories:
- under 18
- 18-25

Two submission categories:
- poetry
- short story or first chapter of a novel.

Entries close 5pm Friday 21st August 2010.

Download the entry form from www.expressmedia.org.au

Proudly presented by Express Media and John Marsden.

Make Poverty History

2010-05-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

King Island's very own Steph Payne is on the Make Poverty History Road Trip.

I've been trying to find a photo of her on the blog but no luck so far.

We're hoping for updates as she makes her way to Canberra.

Go Steph!

2010-04-28T16:33:00.001-07:00

Summer Holiday Volunteer Programs

2010-04-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Applications are now open for volunteer placements over the 2010-2011 holidays!

Youth Challenge Australia is an Australian-based, non-profit, non-government organisation that actively engages Australian youth in community identified projects. Since 1992, YCA has mobilised young people to assist the growth of sustainable and positive community development both internationally and in Indigenous Australia.

YCA recruits and trains young people to support projects in Indigenous Australia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, India, and Vanuatu. Our development projects range from 5 to 10 weeks in length and focus on the poverty, education, gender equality and human rights, health and HIV/ AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnerships.

If you are interested in being a part of a YCA program you can choose from the following programs available over the December 2010 to February 2011 period.

Mexico

YCA will be working in Mexico this December with the Niño’s Feliz Orphanage. Niño’s Feliz is the home of orphaned and abandoned children, in San Joaquin, Texcoco, Mexico. Mexico is home to more than 10 million orphaned or abandoned children and YCA volunteers have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of these children, both socially and through basic infrastructure work in the orphanage. The program focuses on the very real issues of poverty and hunger, education, child health & nutrition and environmental sustainability. The children of this orphanage face these issues on a daily basis. YCA participants have the opportunity to work with and learn from the community of San Joaquin so that these children have a better life.

www.youthchallenge.org.au/Mexico

Costa Rica

YCA has been involved with over 150 community-identified development projects in Costa Rica. YCA provides the opportunity for young Australians to partner with other young people from around the world and with local communities on community identified development projects. The projects range from capacity building and conservation work, to facilitating educational workshops and cultural exchange. The purpose of engaging with communities across this beautiful, biodiversity rich nation is to enhance the capacity of community members to engage in sustainable development. YCA projects in Costa Rica generally target four areas environmental sustainability, health, education and infrastructure.

www.youthchallenge.org.au/Costa-Rica

Guyana

The main issues facing the Guyanese community are the increasing spread of HIVA/AIDS, unemployment and lack of access to education, health and basic infrastructure. In response to this YCA projects in Guyana focus on the areas of health promotion (such as HIV/AIDS awareness), literacy and numeracy and youth skills, training and assistance. Volunteering in Guyana provides young Australians with the unique opportunity to volunteer in a remote, isolated and exotic location, where most travellers never set foot while playing an important role in health promotion and education programs. Volunteers also get to sleep as the locals do – in a hammock!

www.youthchallenge.org.au/Guyana

Vanuatu

YCA is gearing up from another fabulous project in Vanuatu in December 2010. Located on remote Vanuatu island, participants on this program will have the opportunity to work together and learn from developing communities whilst making an impact on both youth and community development in the Pacific. This program will focus on the issues of environmental sustainability, the eradication of poverty, gender equality, human rights and education. With a very real need at the grass roots level, YCA will again take up the challenge of supporting Vanuatu in partnership with local NGO’s towards positive community development.

www.youthchallenge.org.au/Vanuatu

If you are interested in applying for any of these programs please visit the YCA website: www.youthchallenge.org.au/YCA-Application or any of the above links for more information. Project dates can be found here: www.youthchallenge.org.au/Program-Calendar

Gender confusion

2010-04-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Once in a lifetime opportunity!

2010-04-28T16:24:00.001-07:00

Australia’s best up-and-coming creative practitioners are invited to apply to win one of five scholarships offering the rare opportunity to connect with industry leaders in the UK, thanks to the British Council’s Realise Your Dream awards.

Now in its eighth successful year, Realise Your Dream is open to anyone working in creative fields such as visual arts, fashion, design, advertising, architecture, music, animation, digital media, performing arts, new media and computer games.

Entries are online and opened Friday 23 April and close Friday 18 June 2010. Visit the Realise Your Dream website for more details:www.realiseyourdream.org.au.

Becoming A Successful Writer...

2010-04-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

How to Achieve Your Dream and Become a Successful Author

Written by Andrew Griffiths.

Not a day goes by when I don’t have someone come up to me in the street and say that they want to write a book. I always go out of my way to really encourage them to do it. Writing has changed my life in so many ways. Now I have a real desire to help anyone who shares
the dream to succeed in the publishing world. Over the years I have done lots of different things, from commercial diving to selling encyclopaedias door-to-door. Add this to an unusual early life growing up as an orphan in Western Australia and I guess I have an interesting story.
My writing has always focused around sharing my own personal experiences and I think this is a real key to being a successful writer. In other words, write about what you know.
Whilst I write non-fiction I think the characteristics that will make an author successful apply equally toall genres.

Live and breathe passion
You need to be passionate about what you are writing. If you’re not, it shows. Have a look on the shelves of any bookshop and you can see the sheer volume of books, all written by someone who had a passion for the subject and published by publishers who believed that enough people would share the passion and want to buy the book.

Become disciplined
You need to be disciplined and ready for the solitary life of a writer. This means working to deadlines and spending a lot of time in front of the computer. Unfortunately books don’t write themselves. When I realised that I really loved writing and it was a career that I wanted to pursue I decided that I needed to teach myself to type (it takes a really long time to write a book of 100,000 words with one finger). So I started writing in the dark, teaching myself to touch type, to the point where today I am a really fast and accurate typist.

Shout about your book
If you plan on making a living out of writing you need to shout about it from the roof tops. If no one knows about your book, it is unlikely to sell. Every year almost 11,000 new books are published in Australia alone so the marketing and promotion of your book is vitally important. In other words you need to eat, sleep and become a little obsessed with telling the world about your book and why they should buy it.

Think about the future
Have your next book in mind when you write your current book. If you look at the most successful authors they tend to write a series. Think Stephanie Meyer and Twilight, JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series. Even my 101 series of business building books started with a series in mind. Publishers don’t want one hit wonders, they want an author who can develop a following and have a series of commercially successful books.

Be realistic
Last but not least, we need to be realistic about what we will get out of writing from a financial point of view. Very few writers can make a full time living from writing alone, especially with books. But if your book is successful, you can certainly earn some excellent supplementary income that keeps rolling in for years. I am still earning royalties from books that I wrote ten years ago and there seems to be no sign of this stopping.

Appreciate the journey
The real value can come from the credibility that writing gives you. Today I spend a lot of time and make the majority of my income from presenting at conferences around the world. This is the result of my writing success. Many writers go on to have highly successful blogs, freelance writing careers, products like DVD sets and seminars. All of which are possible as a result of their writing success.

All in all, being an author is a great life. The more you write the better you get and there is nothing better than boarding a plane and seeing someone reading one of your books. Like any dream, it may take some hard work to get there, but believe in yourself, don’t listen to the people who tell you what you can’t do and just go for it.

Andrew Griffiths is Australia’s most successful business author with ten books now sold in over fifty countries. He has been a professional author for ten years. For more information visit www.andrewgriffiths.com.au

Poem...Hope / Desire for World Peace.

2010-04-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

آرزوی صلح در جهان

آرزو دارم که دایـم صلح باشـد در جـهان

با لب پرخنده بینم هر طرف طفل و جوان

آرزو دارم به انـسان زندگی ای با هـمی

فرق رنگ و ملت و لسان نباشد در میان

آرزو دارم نگــردند طـفـلکان بیشتر یتیم

تا نمانند بیـسواد و شاقۀ کار از بهـر نان

آرزو دارم که آیـــد عـاطــفه بر هـــر دلـی

تا همه نسل بشرباشند بهم یک جسم و جان

آرزو دارد ( الهه) مـیهنـش گـردد صـــفـا

جنگ منفوراست بهر جا صلح باشدهرزمان

با احترام،

سجیه الهه (احرار)

Hope/ desire for world peace

Wishing there is lasting world peace,

I wish to see young and old, Lips full of smile

Wishing to live together as humans,

Where there is no difference of color, nation and language.

Wishing no more children become orphans,

Where for a piece of bread, they suffer illiteracy and hard child labor.

Wishing sympathy comes to every heart,

So humanity is one body and soul.

“Alaha” wishes for a renewed land,

Where war is despised when there is peace/ war is cussed! I desire for a lasting peace in all over the world.

Written by:

Alaha Ahrar

Design a condom tin!

2010-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

A national competition has launched calling on creative young Australians to design a limited edition condom tin to help make carrying condoms as normal as carrying a mobile phone.

Two winning designs will be selected to feature on the next generation condom tins and the winning designers will also be awarded $1,000 each. The public can vote on the designs with the final decision made by an industry and celebrity judging panel that includes dating, sex and relationships expert Samantha Brett, visual and performing artist Ben Frost and pop, rock and dance music band Bluejuice.

The competition is open until 13 May, 2010. People can vote for their favourite design until 27 May, 2010.

To find out more, create or upload a design, go to www.australia.gov.au/STI

Young People In The Media

2010-04-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

New AYF Discussion Topic

The AYF has a new discussion forum on Young People in the Media

The media has an enormous influence on our lives and plays an important role in recognising the achievements and needs of young people. The media, however, doesn’t always portray young people positively. Tell us what do you think could be done to encourage a more balanced / positive portrayal of young people in the media…

Little Big Shots

2010-04-06T23:51:00.001-07:00

Coming to King Island on Sunday

At the Fruit and Veg Project

17 - 19 Main Street

5.30

Free popcorn

Lucky door prize

What else do you need to know?

Sam's coming to town

2010-03-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Great news!

Today we confirmed that Sam Cawthorn is coming to King Island next month.

He will be here to hold a couple of sessions in the local school and he will also do a session about the subject of his latest book, Bouncing Back, in which he will discuss how we can all bounce from difficulties life throws at us.

A couple of King Islanders have already heard Sam speak and they're really excited that he's coming so YOU SHOULD BE EXCITED TOO!

Monday April 19th...KIDHS...more details to follow.

Ignite

2010-03-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

“The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed in these two: common-sense and perseverance”
- Owen Feltham

The newsletter for young entrepreneurs is out now and available from here.

It's full of great tips, encouragement and some interesting profiles of other young businesspeople.

Grassy Movie...free transport!

2010-03-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

This Sunday 14th March the Grassy Film Society will be showing free movies for kids.

Garfield 2 Rated G starts at 2.30pm

Eight Below Rated PG starts at 4.00pm

The community bus will leave Currie Post Office at 3.30 on Sunday afternoon and will come back straight after the film has finished. You will need to book a seat!!!

Entry is by Gold coin donation and you will get a free ice-cream!

Pretty good eh?

King Island Boxing And Fitness Gym

2010-03-10T15:30:00.001-08:00

The gym is going really well and is in use on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

On Tuesday and Thursday there is a Junior boxers club which starts at 3.30 and runs until 5.00 and on Monday and Wednesday Grassy Football Club are in there training.

There's also an adult class which starts at 5.00 on Tuesday and Thursday and runs until 7.00. We've been lucky enough to Have Jigs come down most nights to run the session. He's an excellent coach.

If you're interested then contact Chris on cgreen@kingisland.tas.gov.au or phone on 00427 510 221.

ROC

2010-03-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

Reach Out Central is an online role-playing game designed to help students to learn and improve skills for life such as communication, problem solving and optimistic thinking in a virtual setting using real life scenarios.    Students take on the role of a character that is new in town. It is up to them to work out how to settle in, make new friends and find their way around the place. The purpose of the storylines is to present real life scenarios that allow students to make choices online, see the consequences of their choices and learn from those choices. To try it out go here http://www.reachoutcentral.com.au/

After The Emergency

2010-02-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

Red Cross has created After the Emergency - an MP3 resource and website for young people affected by disasters.

Visit www.redcross.org.au/aftertheemergency to see stories from teenagers who’ve been through emergencies, share your own story, find information about trauma recovery and get music and messages of support from Aussie artists like Lisa Mitchell and Bluejuice.

ActNow

2010-01-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

What is ActNow?

‘ActNow is an awesome website for young people. It gives us information on important issues and makes them easier to understand. It’s also a great place for people to get inspired on taking action.’
Melissa 20, ActNow volunteer

This month in their regular 3 Things publication seems to feature 4 things which could be a bit misleading.

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick.

Anyway, one of those 4 things is about an American teenager with a fascination for stoves which is actually a lot more interesting than it sounds, go here to find out more.

Yo Yo's revenge.

2010-01-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

Competition...

2010-01-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

The National Youth Week ‘ourspace’ competition invites entrants to submit an audio, video or photographic piece about their home town and the contribution that young people make. Assessment of the entries will focus on the messages portrayed, rather than technical filmmaking/photographic or audio skills.

Two winners, aged 12-25, will be selected from two different locations, and will each receive a VIP pass to a live music event in their home town. The National Launch Events will then be held in two different locations in April 2010. The competition entries close on 31 January 2009.

Self Harm

2010-01-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

Recently I've read some highly traumatic accounts of life for young people who self-harm.

This is a newsletter from a group called Safe In Oz who offer training workshops to help people better understand the issues surrounding self harm.

Maybe we should try to get them to King Island?

Media...Biased? Surely not!

2010-01-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

If you’re aged 16-24 and live in Australia, the Drug Policy Modelling Program at the University of New South Wales is interested in your views on the way media reports on drug issues - balanced - biased - misleading - whatever?

Visit the drug media survey website to participate in their online survey.

Mission Australia Youth Survey

2010-01-05T14:56:00.001-08:00

The Mission Australia Youth Survey results were released late last year and focused on the issues that most concern young people in Australia.

Nearly 48,000 young people were surveyed nationally and they identified drugs, suicide and body image as the three main areas of concern.

In Tasmania many of the issues of concern were similar but as with the survey in 2008, the top issue was again physical/sexual abuse.

Two pieces of good news are that 89% of young people in Tasmania felt that they had enough information about the issues that concern them and also 74% of young Tasmanians are involved in sport as participants. Both of these facts are higher than the national average.

If you would like to have a look at the Mission Australia report then please go here.

Young Endeavour

2010-01-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Two years ago a young King Islander was lucky enough to be selected in the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme ballot for a journey from Melbourne to Sydney.

On the Young Endeavour you will learn about more than just the skills required to crew a square-rigged sailing vessel, you'll also learn about teamwork and leadership and will make some excellent friends on the voyage of a lifetime.

The ballot is open until Feb 28th for voyages between July and December so get cracking. There will be another ballot at the end of the year for voyages in the early part of 2011.

If you have any questions then please let me know.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T13:56:00.001-08:00

Over the Xmas period we had a couple of comments submitted to this blog which is most unusual.

On the other hand our traffic, the number of people visiting the site, has dropped significantly.

I don't think we've ever actually had stellar viewing figures and how many of those visiting the site are young people from King Island is even more questionable.

A quick look at our stats shows for December shows that we had nearly twice as many visits from America as we had from Australia. Of those Australian visitors only 4% came from Tasmania with nearly 10 times as many coming from Cairns which is nearly 3000 kilometres away from King Island. I'm pretty sure that young people in Cairns are unlikely to be overly interested in anything that's happening on King Island.

So, to summarise, I may start the new year with a resolution to scrap the blog, or maybe I need to make it more relevant to young people on King Island or maybe you have an idea?

Festive cartoon

2009-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

Ignite

2009-12-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

If you would like to download the latest copy of Ignite, the magazine for young entrepreneurs then please go here. Or here.

Or here.

But whatever you do don't go here.

Ideas for Next Year's Youth Week Event

2009-11-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

I just need to run it by the Council's insurers but I'm pretty sure that this is what we'll be doing for youth week next year.

All we need now is a hill!

Quote

2009-10-27T19:44:00.001-07:00

“If you don’t like something

change it; if you can’t change it,

change the way you think about it”

- Maya Angelou

It's still Friday! Let's have another one.

2009-10-22T16:23:00.001-07:00

It's Friday! Lets have a laugh.

2009-10-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Impact of violence on young Australians

2009-10-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Are you aged between 12 to 24 years and have experienced physical violence, directly or indirectly, or know someone who has? Do you have a view on youth violence in your neighbourhood, town or city?

If so, please take 5 minutes to complete the Impact of Violence on Young Australians Survey.

Take the survey now

The Australian Parliament is holding an inquiry into the impact of violence on young Australians, and would really like to hear your views. What they mean by violence is the sort of violence that’s physical and is more likely to happen out on the street or in a public place.

For more information about the inquiry please visit http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fchy/youthviolence/index.htm or call 02 6277 4566.

Body Image & Eating Issues

2009-10-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you’re 25 years or under and want to do something to tackle the growing number of body image and eating issues in Australian guys and girls, then take 15 minutes now to complete the National Eating Disorders Collaboration Youth Survey.

The survey has been funded by the Australian Government, under the banner of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration. The results of the survey will be used to shape recommendations to the government on how we can best prevent and treat eating disorders in young people.

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

Win an 8G Ipod Nano...15 mins

2009-10-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

Seeking research participants aged 14 to 17.

Currently we are seeking young participants to complete a short questionnaire (approx 15 minutes). The questionnaire explores young people’s ideas about the format and design of a mental health promotion workshop.

ALL PARTICIPANTS WHO COMPLETE THE STUDY WILL GO INTO A DRAW TO WIN AN 8G IPOD NANO.

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/spppm/surveys2009/jnorrish2/

Highs 'n Lows

2009-10-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

The last animated video from the Highs 'n Lows campaign has recently been released.

To be one of the first to see it please go here.

You can also enter a survey to win an IPod Touch or go in for a competition to win a 'live life to the fullest' adventure.

Please let us know what you think.

Coffee, Laneways and Child Prostitution

2009-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Perspective is a new journal of youth writing on international affairs and domestic policy produced by the UNYA (United Nations Youth Association of Australia).

There are a range of articles written by young people about issues that they feel are important. The first one I read was Coffee, Laneways and Child Prostitution as it's clearly about a city I love to visit, Melbourne. It offers an interesting perspective on the Melbourne most of us visitors don't get to see.

PM's Blog

2009-09-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Bit late I know but the Prime Minister's blog has been dedicated to youth issues recently.

I've not had a good look at it yet so if you find any highlights please feel free to share them.

Egg Cartoon

2009-09-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Prawn Star

2009-09-23T22:28:00.001-07:00

RYLA leadership camp

2009-09-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Young people aged 18-25 yr interested in learning more about themselves & developing their
leadership skills, are invited to apply for the 2009 Rotary Youth Leadership Award program,
happening in districts across the country.

We tried to encourage a couple of young women to attend last year but unfortunately it didn't work out. Since then I've heard some fantastic things about how inspirational the program this that we're even more determined to get someone else there this year.

If you would like any more information or assistance then pleas email Chris Green or phone 0427 510 221.

Fathers Day

2009-08-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Drinkwise

2009-08-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Many of you will have seen the TV and print ads published by Drinkwise like the one above. I think they're pretty good because they make adults think about the message they give to their children when they drink.

We all know that young people copy what they see adults doing so it's only natural to assume that if kids see adults drinking alcohol as a normal activity then they will copy that 'normal behaviour' when they are older.

The problem is that we now know that even small amounts of alcohol can have an impact on the developing brains of young people up to the age of 23 or 24 when the brain stops developing. That's one reason why the government is trying to encourage young people to steer clear of alcohol for as long as possible; to gibe their brains a chance to grow.

Of course there are plenty of other reasons for trying to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by young people and more information, advice and discussion can be found on the excellent Drinkwise website.

King Island Boxing and Fitness Gym

2009-08-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

I had a long chat with Ralph Belbin yesterday. He's the president of Boxing Tasmania and has been helping us on our long and not very productive road to becoming a boxing club.

Now we're waiting for Don Abnett to return from a boxing competition in Germany so that he can come to King Island to train up our coaches. Then we'll need to submit a load of paperwork and then we can open up the gym.

There will be at least two different memberships available.

1. Full Member - can train and spar and will be insured to box.

2. Fitness member - can use all the equipment on site but will not allowed to hit another person.

This has been a long time coming and I don't see any other major obstacles in our way at the moment so fingers crossed...we'll be open soon(ish).