Posts by Jackie Clark
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I say yes to babysitting for stressed parents, yes to keeping an eye on children in your community, yes to more Plunket nurses, yes to thinking about what kind of society we want to live in and yes to serious policy discussions. None of these things are mutually exclusive.
yes and yes to all the above. And I've got a few things of my own to say about all this. I wanted to say, firstly, how much appreciation I have that Mikaere posted about what his/her family is going through in order to address their issues. Kia ora Mikaere. There are no easy solutions to the problems we have here in NZ of killing of, and injuring, our children at an astonishing and alarming rate. And I think that a number of you have put forward some really well thought out arguments for measures that may provide helpful. Universal free childcare? I'm not sure about that one, but only because there are far too many people already abdicating the responsibility of parenthood by dumping wee babies into daycare that they pay very dearly for. If it were to be free? Hmm. Certainly early childhood education needs to be free. As some may know, I work in the public kindergarten sector as a teacher, and while it's not free, it near as damn it is. And still we don't see children from homes like that of the wee Glassie girl. I've worked in Otara, Owairaka and Mangere for 12 years and it is very rare to see kids who come from highly abusive homes. A large proportion of the parents of the children I have taught over the last years have been young Mums on the DPB (and a few solo dads too). But these are not abusive homes. I have taught children who are living with their grandparents because they have come from abuse or neglect - all related to drugs and alcohol - but these children were taken out of those situations fairly early. Plunket definitively needs to be far better funded, and I don't see why questions in hospitals to all women about the presence of domestic violence in their lives won't work for at least some. You have to understand, though, that the people who do this to their children are largely hidden - by choice, or because people look the other way. They tend to move alot and that transience, as one poster said, means that sometimes children get lost in the system. You can't know where all the kids are all the time. These families are often not only on the margins but so far off the grid that they are invisible to all except their teachers at primary school. Because that is when education becomes compulsory, and sometimes is the only way some of these kids can be tracked. What about the kids before they go to school? What about the babies? That's the question policy makers, and society, have to think about. As I said before, it's about disconnection and disempowerment. If we all were a little more connected with what our neighbours and whanau were up to, I suspect things may be a bit different. Notice things. I do it for a living, but everyone can do it. You just have to open those eyes.
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I too would have like to go along to the Hustle Puffle thingy for Autism. I listened to David on the National Program in the weekend, and he spoke so beautifully about autism. So true that it affects many - I'm sure I've taught alot of undiagnosed autists - and a friend of a friend has a wee boy who is now doing okay at a mainstream school with intensive help (they are wealthy people and he goes to a private school - would that everyone had that opportunity). Good luck for the night, guys - I hope you raise obscene amounts of moola.
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I have several rooms of my own and I can barely be bothered cleaning any of them, which, um, must provide a great background for me to be fruitful and creative.
oh yes! me too, Robyn. And yet my brother, who is in the artistic vein musically etc, is a clean freak. Who would credit it?
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Disempowerment, disconnection - that's why children die at the hands of their extended families. You can change the laws, make new ones, and garner all the research you want, but it doesn't change the simple fact that people who feel useless, powerless and hopeless generally tend to do some really crap things to their kids. Make early childhood education free and compulsory and then you may get some way to keeping babies alive.
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There is no doubt. There is no slaughter. No puppies were harmed in the making of this show. We had nothing to do with the recent spate of fatalities among legendary film directors.
Can I just say how wonderful a writer you are (big suckup) and can we please, please, please hold someone important in TV land to ransom so that we get to see some more of your fabulous Serial Killers? I thought that was one of the best telly programs ever.
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I never saw most of Sorkin's stuff - except for a few episodes of Sports Night which I liked just because it had Robert Guillaume in it - so maybe that would explain why I don't find it wearing.
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I concur about 30 Rock, Craig, and disagree about Studio 60. I'm really enjoying Matthew Perry, for some strange reason. As for Alec Baldwin, I know he abused his daughter on the phone, but he really is very yummy.
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if Tom is your father and he had a yacht called the Buccaneer, then...we share a common set of great-great-grandparents
Yes and yes to both those things, Stephen. That's amazing. My email address is goodeye at xtra dot co dot nz.
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BTW, Jackie, i'm related to you.
third cousin, i think.are you really? You know I'm not the lovely singing and dancing Jackie Clarke, don't you? Who's your mum? I thought robbery might be my nephew Nick, who's known to be a bit of a smart arse, but the profile's all wrong.
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JEREMY YOU VER FUNNY MAN