Your Favorite Christmas Carol

In the spirit of the holiday season please tell the world what your favorite Christmas carol is and why. I am looking forward to reading your comments.

The Pace Of Change

Please watch the video and let me know what you think? I’ll be curious to read your thoughts.

Current Event: Fashion, Fashion, Fashion

A recent article in the Tuesday, October 18th edition of the Regina LeaderPost indicated that one of the hot, new fashion trends is the prep-school look. Another way to describe this is males are wearing ties, blazers, and pants while females are wearing kilts, knee-highs, and skirts. Both males and females are wearing a version of a gender appropriate white dress shirt. This opens up the debate for this blog entry on whether you believe that students should be dressed in school uniforms while attending school. It definitely solves the problem of name brand clothing hassles and the peer pressure to fit in. My question to you are you in favour of a high school uniform for all students? Why or why not? Let the debate begin.

Current Event: Canada’s Child Poverty

A recent story in the Regina Leader Post summarized that child poverty in Canada is still a growing concern. The recent report by the Community Foundations of Canada indicated in the Vital Signs 2008 report it was documented that 1 in 5 children is living in poverty. This is a statistic that has remained relatively unchanged in the last 20 years. In a time when the Canadian economy is thriving and an upcoming federal election should this issue be considered a major issue? Are our politicians giving enough attention to this matter or are politicians only talking about child poverty and then doing nothing about it? What could possibly be done in Canada to reverse this trend?

Canadian Olympians Underachieving?

It is quickly approaching the midpoint of the Summer Olympics and Canada has yet to claim a medal. Is this a sign that our olympians are underacheiving or as a country are we not that good? Traditionally Canadian athletes excel at the winter olympics so should more emphasis be put on our summer program? Australia did just that and so have the Chinese and it is paying off. China is leading the medal count. Thoughts?

Evolution of the Blog

Great job everyone. As you know we have had a number of visits with a couple of “guest” commentors in our blog. My goal is to keep this blog active over the summer and continue in the new school year. What I am asking is for are ideas on what you would think would enhance our blog and the blogging experience.

Again let the discussion begin.

Current Event – Do school programs work for teens?

Two recent tragic events involving teens have again highlighted the news. Alcohol, improper seatbelt use, and unsafe driving practices were contributing factors. It is well known that schools consistently try to educate students in these and other areas in hopes of preventing such tragedies. Do these programs work? If not, why? Is it the design of the program? Do teens see themselves as bullet proof or have the mind set that it won’t happen to me? Is it the responsibility of schools to educate teens or should a different agency take on the challenge? Would the messages these programs carry have more impact if they are held away from a school environment? Tragic events will always occur because of human error but if you were responsible to design an education program what would it look like?

Let the discusssion begin.

Current Event – South African Pushes to Compete at Beijing

Oscar Pistorius is a para-athlete who is posting world class sprint times and wants to compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing. His qualifying times are closing in on what he needs to be eligible for the Beijing Olympics however, the IAAF ruled that he couldn’t compete against able bodied athletes because his prosthetic blades give him an unfair advantage.

Recently, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favour of Pistorius and opened the door for his possible participation in Beijing. This has created a huge divide in the world of amateur sports and the sport of track and field.

What are your thoughts? Should Pistorius be allowed to compete at the Olympics against other able bodied athletes? Do his blades give him an advantage over other athletes? Do some research and post your thoughts.

Follow this link for TSN report on Oscar Pistorius.

 

Japanese Rush Hour

It is well known that the Japanese have had to become very creative in ways of dealing with an extremely high population in realtion to the country’s land mass. The following video is one of the ways that the Japanese are trying to make public transportation more efficient. Are the Japanese on to something? What are your thoughts?

911 Call Results in Tragedy

A tragic eventhappened recently in Calgary. A toddler was discovered by his parents unconscious and having trouble breathing. A call to 911 was immediately placed and this is where the problems began. The parents were using an internet phone service and when they placed the 911 call EMS was sent to their former location in Mississauga, Ontario not Calgary, AB. Calgary EMS were not dispatched until neighbors phoned and when EMS arrived a half hour after the first call by the parents it was too late. The 18 month old toddler was dead. What are your thoughts on this event? Who should be held accountable for this tragedy and why?