Author: fl@nn3l

Kids will be kids – an examination of queerphobia

Through the ages, the telltale signs of bullying have been met with one of the most rage-inducing phrases of all time: “Kids will be kids!” Bullying has become part of the quintessential high-school experience, with people taking position as either the bully or the bullied. One of the most common causes of bullying in high schools stems from queerphobia- the prejudice, fear, and hatred of people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Being in the closet is hard, and dealing with prejudice whilst closeted is harder, but for some LGBTQIA+ teens, coming out of the closet only leads to more queerphobia and prejudice.

Wellington High School is known for its welcoming and accepting community, but even we are not free from bullying and queerphobia When asked what effects queerphobia could have on a high school community, Deputy Principal Megan Southwell responded “I think it has the potential to create a divided community in which some people feel unsafe and excluded, which can result in some very tragic events.”

jrn-graphic-2-1

The support WHS has for the LGBTQIA+ community gives somewhat of a false sense of security in regards to queerphobia- we think, due to the support our school shows, that all of our students wholeheartedly agree with the ideals that our school supports. It is not a single edged blade, either- retaliation in the form of graffiti in the gender-neutral changing stall on level four was found with insults aimed at cisgender and heterosexual people. The sword is sharp on both sides, and while queerphobia is more common, discrimination or mistreatment of people due to their sexuality or gender (regardless of what sexuality or gender they identify as) is absolutely unacceptable and goes against Wellington High School’s code of ethics.

Ri Comer, a year ten student at WHS, says that queerphobia in their classes stem from “people who think it’s cool to use gay as a slur and things like that,” and that senior management could be taking further steps to make sure that people are educated about it and making it clear that “people are actually affected by that”. Ri also said that they have heard of students being bullied at Wellington High, but had personally never witnessed it. A member of the Ultraviolet club (who wished to remain unnamed) said “I think it is wonderful that there is so much support from the staff at our school, but there’s always something more that can be done- until the bullying is eradicated in all schools, our work is not done,” in response to being asked about queerphobia throughout all Wellington high schools. “WHS is doing its best, but the standard needs to be raised for all schools”.

Southwell said you have to have a zero tolerance policy to any prejudice. “You can’t make the mistake that slurs like “gay” aren’t a big deal, they are and they just continue to allow prejudice to occur.” She said students should understand the consequences of their actions.  “Schools should ensure part of the process is making sure students understand… how they are impacting on others with their queerphobic behaviour”. She also said that “we really get our guidance from the LGBT community, and I love that at WHS it is the students who often teach us what is right.” Having such an open and accepting attitude from a member of senior management is very reassuring, especially when the Ultraviolet club looks for support in its efforts.

According to a study done by Youth ‘07 and published on GayNz.com in 2009, 71% of queer NZ teens interviewed said that they felt they couldn’t talk to their family about their sexuality, and 60% had said they weren’t “out” at home or at school. Could Wellington, despite just having celebrated 30th anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform, still have an underlying problem of queerphobia? In a study done by LGBT Foundation, they found only 9% of students overall would feel safe telling a teacher they were queer. Part of the problem is the attitude we have towards it- due to the progressiveness of WHS, people often assume that queerphobia doesn’t exist, and end up ignoring queerphobia when it does happen- and just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Multiple students from Wellington College came to speak with me and talked about an instance of a queerphobic action in their school. A teacher allegedly responded to a query about a QSA by saying that there were “no gay students” at WC. Even microaggressions and ignorance like that is adding to the issue- in a 2001/2002 survey done in Australia (known to be the most accurate survey done in the country), 8.6% of men and 15.1% of women between the ages of 16 and 59 said they experienced some level of same gender attraction. For a school with 1550 students, it would quite simply be impossible for there to be no queer students, unless the school actively discriminated and didn’t accept students that openly experienced same gender attraction.

Wellington High School isn’t without it’s faults, but the LGBTQIA+ community can be thankful for the accepting and caring staff that stand up for their students everyday. Being part of a community that is on the receiving end of so much judgement and hate, having the safe-haven that the school supports such as the Ultraviolet club is so important. Yes, we can do better, we can always do better, but we are already doing so well in regards to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community- things like our gender neutral bathrooms and the respect teachers show to students in regards to name changes and pronouns are fantastic steps forwards. But there’s still more work to be done, and WHS can help make changes not only in our own school but we can help change others, too.

By Ed Smith

Images attached to this article

The Problem with NCEA

NCEA is a good qualification – but its shortcomings may be contributing to the cycle of poverty undermining New Zealand’s social progress and equality in the longer run.

A common practice in NCEA is spoon-feeding.  This is the intentional streaming of students into soft courses – usually unit standards.  These offer credits for menial tasks such as talking to a friend about the weather or picking up rubbish.  This is commonly done by schools to artificially inflate their pass rates – often to meet government set objectives.  It means that students who would fail under regular conditions are made to pass, improving their school’s pass rate in turn.  Logically, higher pass rates and better performing schools should be mutually beneficial.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Hekia Parata has set the goal for 85% of students to pass Level 2.  In an interview with NZ Listener, headmaster of Wellington College, Roger Moses says that schools are now substantially judged on the number of students passing NCEA.  This approach almost encourages schools to take shortcuts.  On a superficial level, it appears to be working as shown by the 15% increase in pass rates in the last decade.  But does that mean our society is now 15% more educated?

The short answer is no.  According to government statistics, in that same 10 year period, unemployment went up by two percentage points only and the expected 15%.  That may be a case of data correlation rather than cause and effect, but there is a proven link between education and employment.  It shows that our secondary qualification is failing its primary goal to get students into tertiary education or work.  Despite education quantitatively improving over time, employment has not risen by the same rate. This begs the question, “Are the NCEA curriculum and standards achieving the goal of better employment prospects?”

According to experts, spoon-feeding often limits opportunities despite improving the contents of the curriculum. Moses noted that “It means that students can pass NCEA, but still close down doors.”  Students who are spoon-fed are stripped of opportunities whilst still receiving their qualification.  It means that they may struggle to find work with the skills they acquired in NCEA which then become mismatched if not inapplicable in many industries.  This undermines one major aim of education of improving employment prospects of school-leavers.  It also deceives low-income families as I found out when I contacted an organisation called the I Have A Dream Foundation.

The I Have A Dream Foundation is a trust which helps guide low-income students through school.  According to founder Scott Gilmour, a significant number of low-income students under the programme are led into dead end subjects.  It often deceives families “who dream of future careers and studies after hearing their child passed NCEA, not understanding it’s pushed in fairly meaningless subjects which severely limits their options going forward.”

In short, NCEA can unintentionally contribute to poverty when ambitious schools intentionally spoon-feed students in order to massage and market their performance against rival schools. This generates unhealthy competition amongst schools to the detriment of under performing students.  Inevitably, this entrenches poverty as the education they’ve received doesn’t lead to work.  Education when spoon fed, however well meaning, lets down students and undermines their future.  This has no place in a modern and progressive education system meant to provide an equal, fair education for all students.

The problem starts at government level.  The current policy approach to education is based on judging students on measurable values.  They seem to emphasise good NCEA scores over a holistic, well-rounded education.  Worryingly, that approach has trickled down to student level.

I asked all of my interview subjects the question, “Is your learning primarily driven towards gaining credits or gaining skills/knowledge?”  Every response was along the lines of, “I learn almost entirely to gain credits and can’t remember any long-term information.”  Replies came from Dean’s Award winners as well as those who find school difficult.  Despite vast differences in achievement, their responses were nearly identical.  Does this expose a deeper systemic problem?

Not all but many schools partake in spoon-feeding.  It’s impossible to give specific figures, but the I Have A Dream Foundation singled out Mt Albert Grammar School for criticism.  Whilst some principals would like to see closer scrutiny of schools obtaining 100% pass rate; some schools have taken matters into their own hands.  Many schools now refuse to offer certain unit standards.  An example of this is Waiau Area School who previously had students attain up to half their credits from easier standards.  They dropped easy unit standards in an attempt to improve their problems with student achievement.  The change caused NCEA results to drop further and they were scrutinised by local media.  However, their drop in achievement is contradicted by the improvement in real world occupation.  One year after the change, every student in the schools small year 13 class went on to tertiary study or work.  This makes me wonder, should every school be dropping unit standards?

Personally, I think that dropping unit standards is a step too far.  However, I think the future implications of the courses selected by students need to be better stated.  Roger Moses has said that it may be “beneficial in the long run to fail and repeat a traditional subject (English, Maths) than to opt for a vocational subject instead.”  Students are never told this and we often don’t understand that we’re limiting our future opportunities.

Last year, I was planning to take Legal Studies thinking it may lead to a potential career in law, not fully understanding what the course entailed.  But later, I was given a tap on the shoulder by Miss Jean-Louis who advised me on a better path towards a legal career.  It was something I greatly appreciated and made me question why all students aren’t given the same help.  I know the careers advisor exists, but many students like myself aren’t going to actively seek help unless they know they need it, and frankly, I didn’t know I needed careers advice until I fortuitously received it.  According to a recent Stuff article, some schools have made careers advice compulsory for students.  They found the problem I named above to be more widespread than once thought.  With that in mind, should this be standard throughout New Zealand schools?

I think that every student is entitled to a good education.  At the same time, every student also expects an education that enhances their future prospects.  Is this what our current system promotes?  Arguably no.  Under the current system, pass rate increases are made redundant by its correlation with rising unemployment, students unbeknowingly close down opportunities due to lack of subject advice and some low-income families are deceived as the content on individual NCEA certificates isn’t equal.

How does this contribute to poverty?  According to the, I Have a Dream Foundation, the low-income students they’ve worked with have been susceptible to spoon-feeding which diminishes future prospects.   There aren’t any imminent or easy solutions to this problem.  But I believe it requires a coordinated effort between schools, NZQA and the Ministry of Education who need to take a step back and remind themselves that secondary school is only a rung on the ladder; but for some students that ladder is being cut short.  Worse, some ladders may have no rungs at all.

By Sean Chan

Images attached to this article

WTF is the TPPA?

The TPPA. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. Say it out loud. It sounds boring doesn’t it? That’s because it is. In fact if you were to actually attempt to read the released TPPA documents you would probably drop off faster than you do whenever the word attendance is mentioned in assembly. And that’s probably why as young people we know so little about the TPPA. After all the best way to pass something quietly without teenagers kicking up a fuss is to make it as mind numbingly boring as possible.

So here are the key points you need to know about the TPPA:

  • The TPPA is a free trade agreement between 12 different countries. It’s the biggest free trade agreement in history
  • Free trade is just trade without taxes or tariffs on products.
  • There’s a lot of other stuff tacked on to the trade which have been causing ……. issues.

So now you might wondering “ what is this shocking other stuff?. Well one of the first things to clear up about the TPPA is that a good deal of the deal of it isn’t about trade. In fact most of the deal is about regulations and requirements countries need to fulfill. It’s kind of like when you  take year 12 statistics with the full expectation of the class just being about statistics and then find out a term in that you’re doing an algebra assessment. So in this situation the TPPA is the grossly mislabelled statistics class and should really be called a “regulations deal which involves free trade” instead of a “free trade deal” (and NOTHING else). Just as year 12 statistics should really be called a “statistics and other assorted maths” class.

Scoring the top spot of most controversial regulation is the ISDS process or the investor state dispute process or the “oh sweet merciful Buddha the corporations are coming for our sovereignty” process. Basically what the ISDS does is it gives investors (otherwise known as corporations) the ability to take a government to court if they feel the state has discriminated against them or significantly damaged their business prospects. An offshore court with three arbitrators who either rule in favour of the state or the investor and if the investor wins then the state generally has to give compensation.

Quick point of context:The ISDS isn’t a new thing, it was in our free trade deal with China and it’s been in a bunch of the other junk we’ve signed ourselves up to. Another point is that the state usually wins the dispute process, if not always.

So the ISDS isn’t a new thing for New Zealand but does it prevent a threat to New Zealand sovereignty? Well I think it does but not in the direct form it appears to be. So the whole corporations v countries thing isn’t great. But it has been tested and there is significant oversight of that area. So while the potential for things to go drastically wrong is definitely there I feel there’s a more probable hidden danger within the ISDS process. Much like mock exams, it lurks beneath the surface far closer than the actual externals, or in this case ISDS, but just as scary. It’s the chilling effect. The potential that our lawmakers and judges will look at the ISDS and understandably say “man I really don’t feel like being taken to court over this. Maybe I should tone it down a little.” If our lawmakers tone down otherwise strong laws out of fear of being sued then we could be in some real trouble because unlike corporations we don’t have an ISDS process.

So the whole threat to our sovereignty and ability to make laws for us is a very real issue despite the government’s stance that it isn’t an issue. Okay so we probably won’t wake up one day and see the Beehive flying a Coca Cola flag. But the potential impact could be significant.

Scooching on over to the Government’s main selling point for the TPPA……. the economy! So free trade is great for the economy like the scholarship calculus class of trade. It gets good results. National List MP Paul Foster Bell is enthusiastic about the opportunity it offers New Zealand Businesses in the competitive overseas market. Stating that “this offers New Zealand businesses a great chance to improve the quality rather than the quantity of our product going to overseas markets”.

It’s true that I oppose the TPPA but I want to clear something up. I’m not at all against trade. A strong economy is good, the more money we have to spend the sooner we get lower unemployment rates and desks that don’t wobble whenever we write on them (I mean come on we have to write internals on those!). All of these things are good. But the TPPA isn’t just trade. And even if it is genuinely just a way to tighten up regulations and standards in the participating countries it has the potential to be more than that. There are very real and genuine reasons to argue that this deal gives large corporations great power and let’s be honest hearing large corporations and power in the same sentence is a big red flag.

  Now I’m prepared to accept that the trade is an ok deal for New Zealand. After our free trade deal with China our trade expanded massively. Most people for or against the TPPA agree that it will improve the economy.

cb7e6200ab12f120d07a

The real issue though is how. Because the  TPPA is a trickle down effect system and as a friend of mine once so eloquently put it “unlike mud, gold flows uphill.” Is a trickle down effect enough? Maori Party MP Marama Fox certainly doesn’t think so.

“The TPPA is only a good deal for people who already have the opportunity for wealth and education,”she said

Fox went on to explain that if the government were so certain that this is about benefiting the New Zealand population overall we “would see a raft of legislation introduced with the TPP.”

So to answer the question is the TPPA good for the economy? The answer is yes. Will the government get more in taxes meaning it can invest more in other areas. Well yes. Will more jobs be created? Probably. All these things are great and shouldn’t be understated.  But in reality you’re still going to be paying of a massive student loan and will be receiving only a trickle of the actual wealth, so don’t get too excited.

Another big issue amongst the tppa bundle is patents or more specifically the extension of patents in medical fields. Whenever a company has a patent it means it has a monopoly on that thing, because no one is competing with them they can set the price however high they want. Now in some markets it doesn’t matter. I mean who cares if you have to wait a couple of years for the new rubix cube to be cheap, right? The area where it really really matters is medicine. And it matters in a life or death kinda way. So the longer the patent is in effect the more expensive the medicine is. In case you haven’t figured this out I’m going to put this in caps

THAT’S A REALLY BIG DEAL FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE!

The governments told us they’ll provide more money to Pharmac (the agency that buys our drugs and then sells it to New Zealanders at a much lower cost) so that it can afford these drugs. But where does that money come from? Tax Payers.  And it should be noted that Pharmac has to pick and choose which drugs it buys. Extending patents is just withholding lifesaving drugs from suffering people for longer than necessary so that drug corporations can make more money. And I don’t have a witty analogy for that. It’s just sad.

So moving on to one of the most evil words for the internet generation…… that’s right! It’s the dreaded ‘copyright’. Under the TPPA copyright is extended by a whole 20 years and that has pretty big ramifications. Let’s be honest, as individuals we’ll probably keep downloading etc. But it’s not as individuals that this has ramifications. Take things like songs that we remix and mess around with, art we base off other art, those go under copyright for another 20 years and unless you want a court date you aren’t sharing those with the public. Materials that schools buy for their students will cost more for longer and that gets added to fees. An extra 20 years of copyright robs us of our ability to create and change our culture and things that belong to it. Green MP Gareth Hughes feels that “the Government only calculates physical costs, dollars and cents. But our culture and our sovereignty, aren’t these costs worth calculating? Just because they’re intangible doesn’t mean they’re worthless”. Labour MP for Wellington Grant Robertson agrees and urges students to “think about things beyond the physical costs when looking at the TPPA.”

But one big thing that came up was that if you are worried about the TPPA there are things you can do. As Gareth Hughes reminded us “it’s not a done deal yet”. Barry Coates leader of the Its Our Future anti TPPA campaign says “students should join the campaign and get involved” ; Grant Robertson would like you to “write submissions on the TPPA for the select committee and get in touch with MPs to tell them you’re concerned”;and Marama Fox thinks that “student action is always effective. Tell them it’s your future they’re signing away and that you’re worried!”

These are all awesome motivational positive things that you should do if you are worried about the tpp. But the fact is that National has such a large majority that they didn’t even have to debate before they signed the TPPA. In all likelihood there won’t be much that the opposition can do to stop the ratification of the TPPA. That’s what happens when you have one party with enough numbers to pass most laws on its own. You know that cool picture above that says that democracy doesn’t happen behind closed days. Well neither should this debate.   

Honestly. This deal just makes me sad. Because we’ve had so little say in what’s in it and so little knowledge of how it came to be.

Because it seems to show the government’s approach to most things:

that more money will solve every problem that this country has;

and that disagreeing with the opinion of the government makes you uneducated and foolish.

The TPPA is a serious issue. It’s not something that people should be laughed at for questioning. And it isn’t something that should be ratified without full parliamentary debate and ideally a binding referendum.

Look I’m not going say that there aren’t benefits to the TPPA . When the economy grows, good things happen, new markets will be opened up by this deal and that is always a good thing. And let’s be honest there probably will be harm from not being in this deal and we have to understand that before we go and make up our minds about these things.

There are plenty of good arguments for New Zealand ratifying the TPPA. But there are plenty of good arguments for not ratifying as well.

In case you didn’t guess, I fall on this side of the argument because I believe that the potential risks that come with the TPPA outweigh the potential benefits. I hope you have enough information to make up your own minds because I’m going to go walk into the ocean now. After wading through a swamp of mind numbing legislation, economic reports and attempting to understand issues on the scale of 12 countries I have come to one shocking conclusion.

This deal is just depressing.

By Kate Mills-Workman

Images attached to this article

Noah

 

Life in arguably the biggest city in the world, is bound to be different than here in Wellington. Noah Miura is an exchange student from Tokyo. He has been all over the world, and now he has come to New Zealand. He’s a student here at Wellington High School for eight months, and is experiencing our Wellington lifestyle from a different perspective.

The population of the metropolitan area of Tokyo is about 37 million people, it has more people than 136 countries around the world. This is gigantic compared to the metro population of Wellington which is just 400,000. I don’t know how I would feel about leaving my city to go to the other side of the world by myself. This is Noah’s life. Bouncing between cities around the world and experiencing the different cultures and what they have to offer.

Wellington isn’t the first place outside of Tokyo where Noah has gone to school.

Noah’s dad is from South Africa, and in 2013 Noah visited Africa and went to school in Uganda for nearly a year. Going to school in Japan, Uganda and New Zealand have been three completely different experiences. Living in Uganda he needed to be able to handle the circumstances of being in an undeveloped country. Noah has experienced the best and worst of different countries, cold showers in Uganda for nearly a year would be something none of us would want to do.

img_3037

I met Noah in class, and at first I didn’t talk to him very much. As I talked to him more, I learnt about his experiences in multiple different countries each with a unique culture. It was very interesting to hear what his life was like back in Japan, and how different our two schooling systems are. I wanted to find out more about how he feels about New Zealand, and ask him what he does/doesn’t like, and what surprised him about our country and Wellington High School.

Is there anything you’re not used to here at Wellington High School?

Yes, the use of cellphones here is crazy and almost the opposite to Japan. It’s so strict we aren’t even allowed them at lunch time. They have to stay with the teacher for the whole day.

What’s the most different thing about Kiwis compared to the Japanese?

Kiwi people aren’t so stressed. I don’t see many people here get angry. I feel that Kiwis are very optimistic, whereas Japanese tend to think negatively and get stressed out about their jobs. I see stress almost everywhere in Tokyo. I can’t really explain it, but I get a way more relaxed vibe in Wellington than when in Tokyo

What’s your favorite thing about New Zealand?

The food! I love kumara and fish and chips. Hokey pokey ice cream is also one of my favourites. But the best thing about New Zealand is the diversity. I was very surprised to see how New Zealand embraces the Maori culture. In Japan, the indigenous people, called Ainu, are discriminated against badly. They weren’t even officially recognised as the indigenous race until 2008. Seeing a TV channel here called The Maori Channel, and the use of the Maori language as well as English, is just not something I would see back  in Japan.

img_3008

Japan is made up of 98.5% of people who are ethnic Japanese. This is a huge percentage compared to the ethnic groups which make up New Zealand’s population. According to the 2013 New Zealand census, NZ Europeans make up just over 70% of the population, which is a lot lower than the Japanese population in Japan. There are 600,000 Maori in a country of 4.5 million. The population of the Ainu people is unknown, however, it is estimated to be between 20,000-200,000 which in a country of  130 million, is not a lot at all.

Noah said that when he leaves New Zealand he is going to visit the Philippines and Singapore to “look around” before returning to his home in Tokyo.

By Nico Henneveld

Images attached to this article

Forced live organ harvesting – did you know?

A vicious campaign of brutal torture and abductions has been carried out over China since July 20, 1999. The former Chinese Communist Party-head Jiang Zemin launched a killing campaign to “eradicate” the Falun Gong spiritual discipline. A killing regime that has been committed against 100 million of their own people. The Party has used systematic vilification in an effort to force anyone known to practice Falun Gong to recant the basic tenets of his or her peaceful faith. Why Falun Gong is persecuted in China and why does the Chinese Communist party view Falun Gong as a threat to their power? Why is it so hard to find any good answers to why such a powerful persecution befell China and why is it still happening today?

The Communist party of China rules absolutely. Any belief system that is not controlled by the party is repressed. The Communist party was gutted of its ideological content and replaced by a very clear system of capitalism. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that exercises peace and harmony through a meditation regime. However the Chinese Communist party banned the regime in 1999. The Communist party has since cast extensive repression upon the practitioners of Falun Gong even though they were the ones who introduced the practise in the first place. Documented numbers estimate that the real death toll of the regime climbs into the tens of thousands. Sixty-three thousand accounts of torture are documented and hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been sent to “reform labour camps” where they have faced long periods of detention and are forced to renounce their spiritual beliefs.

As you can imagine those who resist are subject to torture, drugged or humiliated until they break. The government then saw an opportunity and began exploiting Falun Gong members as they became such a vulnerable group of people. A report written by David Kilgore and David Matas released on the 1st of June 2006 and a second version in January 2007 under the title “Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China” concluded that between 2001 and 2006 China killed Falun Gong practitioners in the tens of thousands for their organs. The government sells these organs to foreign transplant tourists with reverse organ-matching meaning that the practitioners form a live captive organ bank. The documented yearly disappearances and killings of Falun Gong practitioners exceed the totals of any other victim group. A merciless system that dehumanizes the practitioners so that hospitals and jails throughout China do not even consider the Falun Gong individuals as people.

In 2015 the organ trade was estimated in China to be worth an incredible amount of US$1 billion dollars a year. However on the official donor roll there are only a small amount of registered names despite the fact tens of thousands of organs are transplanted every year. A former hospital worker called Annie made a statement saying “I can testify that this hospital forcibly removed organs, such as livers and cornea’s”. As if this wasn’t enough she went on to say “Some practitioners were still breathing after their organs were removed, but they were thrown into the hospital’s incinerator anyway”. China holds huge power however and the politics of it all means that millions of lives are swept under the rug for things like trade.

Why does the Communist party of China persecute the individuals of Falun Gong far worse than any followers of other beliefs?  Unfortunately any large group under a repressive government system attracts attention. At the time when the campaign was launched the government estimated the Communist party had 10 million less followers than their own. Falun Gong stand for three very basic beliefs – compassion, truth, and tolerance. This is exactly what the Communist party in China views as a threat. Since the corrupt cannot bribe the honest, the Chinese Communist party can only use force. The Communist party saw a belief system completely different to their own with more followers than their own and turned a group of innocent people into an enemy.

The special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2006 report on his 2005 mission to China indicated that 66% of the victims of ill-treatment and alleged torture in China were Falun Gong practitioners. This is a crime at an epic scale since Falun Gong members represent two thirds of the torture victims in China. The remaining victims comprising Uighurs (11%), sex workers (8%), Tibetans (6%), human rights defenders (5%), political dissidents (2%), and others (persons infected with HIV/AIDS and members of religious groups (2%).

To get away with this crime the Communist Party spews propaganda. However as one can imagine the explanations never quite add up. A common explanation often referred to in Western media is the menace explanation: Falun Gong is a danger to society for Chinese officials in the Foreign Ministry, consulates, embassies, as well as Chinese journalists and scholars. In other words: Falun Gong is banned because it is a menace to society and any rational thinking government would do the same. However the Communist Party is actually the only government to have banned Falun Gong as it is practiced freely around the world in over 70 countries. Falun Gong is, and has been, strictly nonviolent. The Party has also had trouble explaining how tens of thousands practice Falun Gong just 100 miles away in Taiwan. The Chinese government have brainwashed many of their citizens into believing that Falun Gong is an “evil cult” even suggesting that they are baby eaters. This means that when people hear about the mass killings they dismiss it as okay because these people aren’t good people. However the Taiwanese government or media have not made any reports of Falun Gong being a menace.  Many people even study it as an extra credential at school.

The brutality used to “transform” practitioners is too horrendous to write about in this article. If you wish to learn more visit https://fuldar.wordpress.com/ as this site tells the stories of many practioners who at the hands of police and the government face severe unjust consequences. If you wish to learn more about the cause and want to help visit http://www.stoporganharvesting.org/ and if you want to learn more about the practise or get in touch with local contacts visit  http://en.falundafa.org/ . A special thank you to Margo Vicar who was kind enough to give me useful information and personal opinion on the matter.

Written by Zita Harrington

Images attached to this article

Wednesday’s Musical Spotlight

Music Evening is on this Thursday 21st October at 7:00pm, so The Flannel thought we’d do a bit of reminiscing and share footage of the previous talents that have graced the stage.

Starting off the videos is the Wellington High School Choir, which boasts both a student and teacher led participation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5qLFp4c6w0

Performing Norah Jones, one of the music classes Year 13 Bands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRF3EPRZn_o

 One of three Jazz Bands at Wellington High School performing ‘Chameleon’ by Herbie Hancock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92QGOjNU3do

Wellington High’s String Ensemble 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtBc1Y6y0XU

Another Wellington High Band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hymbUdDQEU

Year 13 Wayne Williams on the Guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhSm3BmoVv0

Tickets are $5! See you there!

All this footage comes from Tony Cairns. 

Collated By Sarah A

Images attached to this article

I’m 12 now Mum, I can do what I want

Did you know? I’m 12 now. That’s right. 12. Old right? Right. In being 12 I think that I should be allowed to do things that 21 year olds can do, because I want to, and my mother can’t stop me. Because I am 12, that means I have 12 years experience, which is more than approximately 5% of the population. That’s right. I am more mature and grown up than a decent amount of people. That means I should be able to drink, smoke, party, do drugs and go out later than 4. I mean seriously. Have you ever been generally annoyed by us, twelvies? Apart from the obnoxious bunch on the bus, and those who walk in the middle of the pavement, we’re not really annoying.

Yesterday my mother tried to tell me to unstack the dishwasher. Does she realize how old I am? I responded with a simple “I’m 12 now mum I can do what I want.” She responded in disgust, asking why I would say something like that. I just nodded. Because I was 12. I was entitled to my own opinion.

Today I went to my mother’s, friends, daughters party. She was 17. Obviously I was cooler than her, I mean. I was 12 after all. I was told to sit at the kiddies table. Did I let that slide? Nopeee! I explained to her how old I was and how I was superior. They want me to sit with the 3 year olds because I was what? Below them on the age spectrum by only a few years?  Eventually they persuaded me with large amounts of orange juice. I sat down at the table with the ‘Under-aged’ kids. I looked upon the younger peasants knowing that I was the superior being at this table. I wondered if they knew how old I was. I considered telling them but then realised that they were too young to understand. Can’t you agree with me?

They treat me like I’m only 11!

Another reason to let my kind roam the streets is because we can develop friendships without annoying our parents. We would be in large groups  and would not trash the streets like disgusting ‘teenagers.’

Images attached to this article

Year 10s Need Freedom!

Wouldn’t it be nice if you and other Year 10’s could leave school for lunch instead of having to sit in the cold linkwells at school with theYear 9s? We Year 10s have had to stay in school for the past decade during lunch. Despite it being “illegal” for Year 10s to leave, we have been having to stay in school since we started school. It’s about time we get a bit of freedom and a bit trust from teachers and other adults.

If we are allowed out, it will make us so much happier and we will stop complaining. Because of that we will come to class in a better mood, will want to learn, be more respectful to other people, won’t be so annoying and much much more. We would also do more and better work. And if we do better work not only will we get a good job which means we will be happy. It will also make us more responsible, will make us more wary of the time and people around us. Wouldn’t all that be good.

It will also affect the teachers in many ways. Some examples are, the student will come to class in a better mood, they respect the the teachers more and will do more and better work. And if all that happens the teachers won’t need to be so grumpy and can focus more on teaching us better instead of having to tell us off all the time. Teachers also won’t need to worry about Year 9s and 10s having arguments and getting into fights. Because of that teachers can relax more and can focus more on something that doesn’t involve checking that Year 10s aren’t getting into trouble.

Now for how it will affect all the rest of the students. There are heaps of reasons why it will affect the rest of the students. Like it will make it less likely that there will be fights and arguments between the Year 9s and 10s or any of the other year, it will be less crowded so the Year 9s will have more room to do what they want. Not only that would happen, the school will be a lot quieter so people that need to do work can do it without being disturbed. Wouldn’t all that be good? I think it does.

So what I have been trying to say is that the school will be a better place if we, Year 10s are allowed to leave school during lunch. It will affect everyone. Also the Year 10s can focus completely on learning and the teachers can focus on teaching us rather than hafting to keep getting annoyed with us. So who cares if by “law” if we aren’t allowed to leave, we’ve had to stay in for the past ten years, so it’s about time that we are trusted to do something for once. Just remember it will affect the whole school, not just us Year 10s.

Images attached to this article