Extremely well presented post Mawsouth. The hypocrisy of the young is sometimes beyond belief. They don't seem to object to using the Highways that the now aged paid for. They don't have any objection to using the International Airports that we paid for. We have no end of criticism of the fact that there has been virtually no infrastructure developements since the veterans of the Great Depression started retiring. The elderly retirees & the now deceased aged, paid for nearly all the hospitals that the young complain that we use. We & our forefathers paid for every dam in Australia, but the young of today cant build a pipeline from the North West to get water to themselves. The young scream blue murder because we support our only ally in Iraq, but have no apparent objection to the number of our fathers who gave their lives in New Guinea etc, just so that the young of today would be able to exist in freedom.

Thank you.

This is a great heads up and100&#xus;able to research and "belt the pollies' around the head with.



I have submitted a document to all parties in government available here

http://www.jtomkins.com/engage/Lateralthoughts.pdf which details a proposal for change



This document threads the minefield of "legalese" embodied in the current legislation around duty of care to kids and suggests the active participation of seniors as a teaching resource in our schools. It has been researched and tested then peer reviewed by a university.



It is very pertinent though that all the opposition parties (state and federal) were courteous and acknowledged the submission. My beef is that the "ruling" parties did not give me the time of day



I wonder if we need a reversion to the Whitlam era and the slogan "It's time"



again thank you innes

Mawsouth, I'm sure you are a very clever person but I've just read your post and your link and I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Could you put it in short, sharp sentences that I can understand, what are you advocating?

Basically I am not clever or learned only a lateral thinker toot2000

the short and sweet message is as follows



Children should be challenged and not coerced to learn



One of the best ways to teach is by example, so given the time restraints in a classroom of 20 to 30 this learning can be "matured" by asking or challenging a student to teach, or question what has just been learned. To do this they can remotely connect to a senior in their home and teach this senior the basics of computing. Or ask a senior to participate in class conference or 1 to 1 discussion, using the tools that business use every day - audio and video conferencing.

the number of kids that can participate (1 to 1) at the same time is limited only by the number of computers in the room



This allows students to build their social skills and learn about the the joys, problems and challenges around us from more than the viewpoint of a single teacher. As kids these days start learning at 4 with their games etc they have a very good hold on computer concepts, so it would not be a chore



Easily set up it consists of a meeting point where kids from anywhere in Au. can select from a list, seniors, experts or other schools wherever, to talk about drought flood erosion or what ever and become more aware of the community around them.



Just think of what we seniors could teach them. The point is it would be interactive not passive like a book or a tv program.

Thanks for the challenge.

I think I get it. You want to link seniors with different life experiences to students. So you get an Australian-wide list of seniors with a different experiences, not necessarily academic, a child may want to become a jockey for instance, so he goes down the list and hooks up with old George who's been a jockey all his life and gets lots of clues from him. Or maybe a young woman wants to be a vet, so she connects with a retired vet. Is that it? The only problem I can see is whether the kids would bother, do you know any young people, they think they know everything already.

It seems like a good idea to me, well worth exploring hopefully.

Also it would be a boon for seniors in another way, one of the best ways of warding off dementia is to keep learning, not retrieving knowledge, but searching for new.

Win -win situation, yes.

Yes toots200 I have been around kids. I have adult kids of my own trying to "cope" with the pressures of today's society while rearing my grandkids and unlike a lot of other seniors have been fortunate to be able to watch and listen to hundreds of teachers teach all subjects, in all kinds of situations from 1 teacher schools to modern high schools, pre schools and remedial classes both for the slow learner and the intellectually disadvantaged.

the greatest benefit would run to rural kids in small schools which are normally under resourced.

They do not have the community resources to call on to bring live people to the classroom for discussion, A to talk to a structural engineer would give great insite into maths, science and physics.

Think back.. how often did you sit around a classroom completing useless exercises which would mean nothing unless you could "see' the science that goes in the decisions in the finished project. The kids would think it "as cool as broadcasting via podcast" to the world which is what some "lucky" 10 yo ones are doing in Queensland at the moment.

I really see no problem motivating kids, the problem is the other half, Motivating Seniors

I like it, but I'm no brain surgeon, could you still use me?

toot2000 , I can only say, if you have lived and loved, and have only your experiences to share you are still too valuable to throw away. even if you can only tell of your experiences growing up that is part of our aural history to be remembered and shared



This is an excerpt of an email from a 67yo grandmother (mother-in-law)received today from Antarctica where she is a "short order cook' for a month - 6 degrees - water -3degrees Priceless....



The Australia Day activities included a swim in the icy Antarctic waters - by about two dozen, mad or it helps to be slightly mad, expeditioners stripped off to bathers or shorts, no wet suits and some stayed in the water for about 30 seconds but a few others managed quite longer and one guy even swam out to an iceberg and clambered up on to it. There was a doctor on the wharf and the IRB in the water in case of any mishaps. This was followed by a bbq lunch and then a game of 20/20 cricket, with a nun and a priest as the umpires - certainly different to the usual cricket match as regards the rules - no one gets out - if you did runs were deducted from the score and you batted for two overs, there was the usual 'man of the match' award. Even had the obligatory 'streaker' a guy came riding in on quad bike dressed in budgy smugglers, a cape - the Australian flag draped around his neck, helmet and his boots, the most hilarious sight you would ever see.

(IRB=Inflatable rubber boat)

and even I can talk about going to school with a slate under my arm.

What fun they are having down there, lucky things. I always promised myself I would never say to my kids "When I was young I had to .............", I can remember having to respectfully smile and listen to my elders reminisce about old times and it bored the socks off me. So I haven't even tried to talk to my own kids about when I was young, they know I was bought up on a sheep farm but they never wanted to know anything more, same goes for the grandkids, awful isn't it? The other thing that crossed my mind was that I was bought up with a lot of tough old Australian values, "Pride Cometh before a Fall" and "he's got tickets on himself" which is terrible for self esteem. We are indeed a weird mob.

I always promised myself I would never say to my kids "When I was young I had to .............", I can remember having to respectfully smile and listen to my elders reminisce about old times and it bored the socks off me. .

.

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Could this attitude by younger people be a major stumbling block to this scheme.

Keandha I think times have changed.

lets face it these kids are teaching us..

They are on a "fact finding" mission.. ramble on off subject and you will quickly be pulled up short. they have the power of the television switch. ever watch a fireman or a policeman or a politician being "grilled" by a class of kids.

it's awesome.



First, a teacher's ability to influence student learning is dependent upon the teacher having power. second, power is rooted in the teacher-student relationship. Power is not an attribute that a teacher possesses. Instead, it is a property of a relationship whereby the student grants power to the teacher. Third, the quality of the teacher-student relationship is dependent upon the verbal and nonverbal messages that teachers and students create and exchange with each other.



So why would not, a kid like to have the tables turned and, "milk" any situation to their advantage, knowledge and for peer respect.



"To respectfully smile and listen to my elders" ! In today's age? You have got to be joking.

Remember they are active participants not forced to be a "fly on the wall" like we were.



So they will want to know that to court a girl in the bush you had to ride a horse for 60 miles - about 10 hours then got to sit on the veranda with her for a whole hour and the problem. You were forced to sit outside the open window of the "masters study" 10 foot away from where he was "doing the books", a chaperon!!!!! then 10 hours back to work. with no sleep.



Whats a willi willi and why did it take you a week to clean up after it. This stuff was all part of "station life" back then, and it is not documented, except impossibly treated in romantic fiction, Was it F.J.Thwathes who wrote in our day?



With this the kids get to ask the questions, so yes they are interested, if you don't "fob them off" as we usually do. Are we really too chicken to face a bunch of kids.